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Manchester City vs Southampton: Carabao Cup – Preview and Predictions

By Ryan Borowski

BURNLEY, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: Alex McCarthy of Southampton during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Southampton FC at Turf Moor on February 2, 2019 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
BURNLEY, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: Alex McCarthy of Southampton during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Southampton FC at Turf Moor on February 2, 2019 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) /
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Southampton are looking for a bounce back performance in the cup match against the champs before having to face City on Saturday as well.

For the Saints, the going has been tough and is not going to get any easier this week as they take on the defending champions twice in the span of 5 days.

The first match out of the two is on Tuesday and will be a Carabao Cup match. The winner of this match will move on to the Round of 8 and a shot of going to the Semi-finals.

It is going to be tough to predict the starting line-ups for either team mostly because Southampton are coming off the worst loss in Premier League history and City may think they can save their first team for the league and Champions league.

PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 24: Cedric Soares of Southampton(C) celebrates after scoring his sides third goal during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Portsmouth and Southampton at Fratton Park on September 24, 2019 in Portsmouth, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 24: Cedric Soares of Southampton(C) celebrates after scoring his sides third goal during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Portsmouth and Southampton at Fratton Park on September 24, 2019 in Portsmouth, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /

How Man City Will Win

The reigning champions will likely start a side that features a lot of youth, mostly because they have been facing some injury concerns in their defense. Regardless of who Pep puts in the starting XI it is going to be a tough match for Saints.

They will be well coach and looking to impress their manager in hopes they can start Premier League and Champions League matches.

The City players will be chomping at the bit to get after a defense that just conceded 9 goals so they will be aggressive and look to poor on the shots early and often. Players like Mahrez have terrorized Saints in the past and will likely get a chance to do so on Tuesday. They are clearly the better side and if they do not overlook the Saints they should win.

How Southampton Will Win

We are about to see a whole new Starting XI for this match as everyone who featured in the 0-9 thrashing is likely not going to play in this games as Hasenhuttl starts to look for other options on the field.

Boufal, Armstrong, and Adams will all likely start and will want to show they are here to play for Southampton and prove they can start in league matches. It is going to be a tough match but I expect Saints to scratch and claw for a victory to show their coach that they care and can win matches.

It is going to be interesting to see the response from the Saints and whatever the result is, Saint fans just want to see some fight from this team.

Next. Saints players and staff make significant donation to Saints Foundation after 9-0 loss. dark

Predicted Line-ups

Manchester City: 4-3-3

Goalkeeper: Claudio Bravo

Defenders: Angelino, Eric Garcia, Nicolas Otamendi, Kyle Walker

Midfielders: Phil Foden, Rodri, David Silva

Forwards: Riyad Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva

Southampton: 4-2-2-2

Goalkeeper: Alex McCarthy

Defenders: Kayne Ramsey, Kevin Danso, Jan Bednarek, Jake Vokins

Holding Midfielders: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oriol Romeu

Attacking Midfielders: Sofiane Boufal, Stuart Armstrong

Forwards: Che Adams, Shane Long

Predicted Score

Man City 3-1 Southampton