Southampton-Manchester City is a League Cup quarter-final match to be played on Wednesday at 9pm: line-ups, predictions, TV and streaming.
The big favourite to win the League Cup is undoubtedly Manchester City, who have won five out of the last seven editions of the third biggest domestic cup. Last year it was dethroned by Liverpool, who interrupted the ‘domination’ of Pep Guardiola’s team, which had won four consecutive titles.
The Citizens, after all, are used to fighting to the last in all the competitions in which they participate, especially thanks to a very long squad that few clubs in the world can boast. It is no coincidence that the Catalan coach was able to afford to field many of the second-liners last Sunday in the FA Cup against Chelsea and still win. And what a victory it was: after a narrow victory in the league at Stamford Bridge, Manchester City took Graham Potter’s Blues by storm in the third round of the cup, eliminating them with a roundabout and resounding 4-0. Since the season started again, almost exclusively victories have come for the reigning champions of England, with the exception of the unexpected home draw with Everton. Sporadic slips that don’t allow Guardiola and his men to lead the Premier League table: Arsenal are currently at the top and the Citizens are forced to chase.
In the quarter-final against Southampton Haaland is expected to be on the bench again: World champion Julian Alvarez will lead the attack. However, Grealish and De Bruyne could return from the starting line compared to Chelsea.
Salisu against City in league
The Saints, bottom of the league and main candidate for relegation for most bookmakers, seem to be an intended victim. Nathan Jones is trying to turn the red and white team’s fortunes around, but so far the only victories have come in the cups, where surprisingly Southampton are not doing badly. Last Saturday they won 2-1 over Crystal Palace in the FA Cup, pipping Vieira’s Eagles.
The Prediction
With Guardiola on the bench, Manchester City have only lost twice in 29 League Cup matches and that may be enough to understand how much the coach cares about this cup. We expect a clear-cut victory from the Citizens, who should score between two and four goals.
The likely Southampton-Manchester City line-up
- SOUTHAMPTON (3-4-2-1): Bazunu; Lyanco, Caleta-Car, Salisu; Walker-Peters, Ward-Prowse, Lavia, Perraud; Edozie, A. Armstrong; Adams.
- MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ortega; Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Aké; De Bruyne, Phillips, Gundogan; Mahrez, Alvarez, Grealish.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 0-3