Manchester City and Southampton meet at Wembley on Saturday in an intriguing FA Cup semifinal between the surging Premier League giants and in-form second-tier Saints.
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Pep Guardiola’s City have hit top form at the right time of the season, once again, as in the last few weeks they’ve won the League Cup by beating Arsenal in the final at Wembley, have beaten Arsenal in the league last weekend and followed that up with a midweek win at Burnley to go top of the Premier League table. With Erling Haaland coming up with huge goals and City cranking through the gears with a fluid attack and dominant midfield, everything has clicked into place at the right time. Guardiola’s side are chasing a domestic treble and are the heavy favorites to prevail at Wembley this Saturday.
But second-tier Southampton are on a 20-game unbeaten run of their own under young coach Tonda Eckert and knocked out Premier League teams Fulham and Arsenal in the last two rounds to reach the semifinal on a remarkable run. In the 50th anniversary year of winning the FA Cup (their only major trophy) when they were also a second-tier team back in 1976, Southampton’s fans have totally bought into the nostalgia of this run and are hoping history can repeat itself. Saints will be backed by almost 40,000 at Wembley as they requested extra tickets from the FA and alongside this cup run they’ve surged into the playoff spots in the Championship. They have even been pushing for automatic promotion in the final weeks of the season, but will likely have to settle for a playoff spot as they chase an instant return to the Premier League.
For live updates and highlights throughout Manchester City vs Southampton, check out PST’s live blog coverage below.
How to watch Manchester City vs Southampton live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 12:15pm ET Saturday (April 25)
Venue: Wembley Stadium — North West London
TV Channel/Streaming: ESPN+
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Manchester City team news, focus
City are without center backs Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias through injury, but they are getting closer to a return. Rodri is also likely to be missing, so Nico Gonzalez should start in central midfield. The likes of Phil Foden, Savinho and Omar Marmoush could start in attack to rotate the attacking lineup a little, but Guardiola will be wary of changing things too much and City have nine days until their next game after this semifinal.
Southampton team news, focus
Saints were handed a big blow ahead of this semifinal with key midfield enforcer Flynn Downes handed a retrospective ban and suspended for three games following an incident he was involved in at Swansea City last weekend. Shea Charles and Caspar Jander will likely start in midfield with local lad Cam Bragg also an option. Left back Ryan Manning is also suspended so Welington will come in for him. Up front Ross Stewart should start with Leo Scienza on the left wing and Tom Fellows on the right wing as all three were rested from the start in midweek against Bristol City. Captain Jack Stephens is struggling with a calf injury and if he’s not fit then Nathan Wood will start at center back in Saints’ 4-2-3-1 formation. Goalkeeper Daniel Peretz has been excellent since his January arrival on loan from Bayern Munich and he will likely have to play a heck of a game if Saints are going to have any chance of pulling off an almighty upset.
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Manchester City vs Southampton prediction
This will be all about Man City staying patient and not leaving themselves vulnerable on the counter. It may be closer than most people think, but City will eventually get the job done. Manchester City 3-1 Southampton.