Ruben Dias sends warning to Man City squad after Southampton win – 'Nothing else to say'

Ruben Dias believes the teams at the bottom of the Premier League have shown Manchester City how difficult it will be to defend their title this season.

The champions worked to a 1-0 victory over winless Southampton at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, a result which left the visitors at the foot of the table with just one point from nine games.

This came after John Stones scored an injury-time winner to defeat stubborn Wolves, who also had just one point at the time, at Molineux the previous weekend.

City defender Dias said: “I think you don't have anything else to say about (how difficult) the Premier League (is). I think that's the best example – Southampton and Wolves , one point each. They are last, and that's the level.

“Of course, three points, a clean sheet, we are very happy. We could have scored a lot more, but sometimes it happens like that.”

City now remain unbeaten in 35 home Premier League games since losing to Brentford in November 2022, a run which is now guaranteed to exceed two years. They also extended their club record unbeaten league run to 32 matches.

They were expected to face the struggling Saints comfortably and it looked like they could pull off a big win after Erling Haaland beat Jan Bednarek to open the scoring after just five minutes.

They created numerous other chances but were unable to capitalize on them, with Haaland, who had several of his own, guilty of a particularly glaring miss from close range.

This allowed Southampton, who were enjoying good possession, to stay in the game but, although Cameron Archer hit the crossbar just before half-time, City goalkeeper Ederson was largely untroubled.

City midfielder Bernardo Silva said: “We have a lot of respect for all the teams in the Premier League.

“I think they deserve a lot more points than they got. We had our chances, but they deserve a lot of credit for what they did.”

Southampton's frustration was compounded by a booking from under-pressure manager Russell Martin, who will now serve a touchline suspension in Tuesday's Carabao Cup match against Stoke.

After that, the Saints have league games against Everton and Wolves, which veteran midfielder Adam Lallana says is crucial.

The former England midfielder told the club's website, southamptonfc.com: “We didn't dominate the ball, we didn't have the best chances in the game, but there were certainly some moments, especially in the first half, where I felt we won against the best team in the world.

“We have to take the positives. We have to look at these moments, take confidence from them and take them into the rest of the season and especially the next fortnight, which is obviously huge for us.”