On Tuesday evening, Manchester City and Southampton will face each other for the first time this week. The midweek meeting involves a duel in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup. Coincidentally, the same game will also be played in a competition in Manchester next Saturday. What can we expect from these teams in the cup?
Manchester City:
Manchester City won Aston Villa 3-0 last weekend. The victory only came about after halftime by goals from Raheem Sterling, Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gündogan. The home team played a poor first half. Manager Pep Guardiola announced that his team would be eligible for relegation if his team played this way every match. Slightly exaggerated, of course, but perhaps it was more intended as a warning to his own players that they should perform better. In the second half City gave some extra gas and it was decided within twenty minutes.
Manchester City will meet a Southampton on Tuesday evening, which is quite excited to enter Etihad Stadium after the earwash of 0-9 against Leicester City. Knowing Guardiola, he wants to reach the next round with as little effort as possible. Qualifying is paramount and in all likelihood his basic team will consist of a mix of youthful talents and the numbers twelve to fourteen. Some players can prove themselves and Southampton seems the most suitable candidate for this at the moment.
Southampton:
Southampton lost at home last Friday with 0-9 against Leicester City. Leicester City took the lead early on with a goal from Ben Chilwell. When two minutes later left back Ryan Bertrand with direct red was sent off the field after intervention by the VAR, the game was already played. After the red card, almost everything flew into Leicester City. On nine of the fifteen goal attempts, keeper Angus Gunn had to keep the answer. Southampton is in 18th place in the Premier League because of the big defeat
The Carabao Cup seems to be the moment for Southampton to change its mind. Ralph Hasenhüttl’s team, on the other hand, travels to Manchester without confidence, but the The Saints will also realize that this is a duel in itself. I can imagine that often the same players get a chance for revenge during this Carabao Cup match. Agnus Gunn will take a seat on the bench and his replacement under the bar will be Alex McCarthy.
