Manchester City are so good at controlling so many games that some disgruntled fans of rival clubs see it as opponents not bothering to put the effort in against the champions.
While certain clubs are better than others at competing with Pep Guardiola's side, few are able to successfully disrupt their flow enough to punish them. That does not mean that they haven't tried though, and Southampton are a prime example of the quality that runs through the Premier League.
They may not have the resources of the top teams but they have a talented, imaginative coach who works his players hard to build the identity that he wants his side to have. They can often defend deep like the best of them, but they will also go into every game trying to win it.
Rather than seeing a match against the Blues as one to get out of the way - especially with them on a 12-match winning run - Ralph Hasenhuttl again spoke this week of why it is a challenge that everyone at St Mary's looks forward to.
"I can feel that the week is a little bit more intense because all you prepare - they have solutions for it so that means that you have to re-think it again and find other opportunities," he said in his pre-match press conference.
"This is maybe the biggest challenge for us but the players love this challenge and I think that if I see a team that is so able to be flexible tactically and hopefully will make it very difficult for them."
If that wasn't proof enough that City can expect one of their trickiest afternoons of the season on Saturday, Guardiola and his players do not have to think hard to remember how difficult it can be to play Southampton.
There was the time at the end of the 2019/20 season when the Blues had just battered champions Liverpool 5-0, only to turn up on the south coast and leave with a defeat. Hasenhuttl had seen how involved Ederson was in the build-up and his high line and decided that attack that strength, and a mistake from Aleks Zinchenko allowed Che Adams to lob the goalkeeper for the only goal of the game.
Southampton are one of only four teams to take points off City this season, and can feel hard done to with a 0-0 draw given they had a penalty overturned by VAR in debatable circumstances in the second half.
Guardiola has since said his team did not play well that day but, just like when rival fans accuse other clubs of not turning up against City, football is played by two opponents and Southampton have been better than most at neutralising the threat of the champions.
Hasenhuttl is right that the Blues have had longer to prepare than they normally would, but Saints have also had plenty of time to work on another gameplan that can upset the favourites and have shown before on numerous occasions that they are able to pull it off.
