Southampton is going to have cash in on every little bit of luck they can when facing Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday afternoon.
Ultimately, Pep Guardiola's men will be expected to wipe the floor with the Saints, having won the esteemed competition three times, across the last 15 years.
Moreover, the Premier League leaders just always find a way of winning, when the pressure is ramped up, but Southampton have been victorious against the heavily fancied visitors from Manchester, in recent match-ups.
Southampton need to embrace the occasion
Southampton versus Manchester City, up until the Saints became somewhat of a yo-yo side, was often viewed as a Premier League staple.
Indeed, between 2020 and 2025, the two teams faced each other ten times in all competitions, with the final outcome often being a comfortable City win.
But, in 2023, City did come unstuck to the Saints in the EFL Cup, which is hopefully a good omen for another stumble on Saturday, as Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo - who are both forgotten remnants of the past - got on the scoresheet in a surprise 2-0 win.
The last time the two teams met, as well, the usually free-flowing Premier League side were held to a goalless draw, as the likes of Erling Haaland and Phil Foden were kept under wraps.
It will take a gargantuan effort for the South Coast side to reach their first FA Cup final, since winning the competition dramatically in 1976, with the appointment of Craig Pawson as the referee, not helping their chances of an earth-shuddering upset.
Southampton's woes with Pawson as referee
The Sheffield-born referee is a widely recognised figure in the English game, having even refereed an FA Cup final back in 2023, when Liverpool won on penalties against Chelsea.
He has extensive history with the Saints, too, across his wide-ranging career as an official, overseeing 23 total contests.
The last five times he has overseen a Southampton clash, the South Coast side have only won once, though, with a 3-0 defeat in the FA Cup at the hands of Liverpool in 2024, sticking out as a match he has taken charge of, where the Saints have been humbled by the might of a far better side.
Worryingly, Southampton has also failed to score a single goal across the last three matches Pawson has been the man in the middle for, even when he controversially sent off Fabian Schar last season, as ten-man Newcastle United beat Russell Martin's Saints by the solitary goal.
To make matters even more bleak for the Championship underdogs, City usually love having Pawson as their designated referee, having not lost a game he's taken charge of, since the 2023/24 season, when Wolverhampton Wanderers pulled off a slim 2-1 win at Molineux.
Awarding the ten-time Premier League champions ten penalties across the 31 matches he has overseen, Southampton must look to break this hoodoo with the 47-year-old, as yet another hurdle is in their path to an unlikely success.
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