Fun fact, as Southampton FC prepares to host Manchester City in the quarterfinals of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night. These two sides, met, again at the St. Mary’s, in this exact round last year, except that time it was in the FA Cup competition. City won that encounter convincingly, 4-1, back on March 20, 2022.
New manager Nathan Jones will obviously be looking to avoid another instance of history repeating. He has a tough task ahead, no doubt.
Man City at Southampton FCย ย EFL Cup Quarterfinal FYIs
Kickoff: Wed. Jan. 11, 8pm, St. Mary’s
Man City:ย ย Team Newsย ย Starting XI Prediction
Southampton FC:ย Team News
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Key Stat: Southampton has only beaten City once, in 15 tries, during the Pep Guardiola era (3D,11L)
City will enter this one at less than full strength though. Defender supreme Ruben Dias has still not featured since play resumed after the World Cup. He injured his hamstring while representing Portugal at the tournament. Elsewhere Jack Grealish missed out on the rout of Chelsea due to an unspecified illness. There is a whole lot of stuff: bugs, viruses etc. going around this time of year.
However, Grealish is expected to be fit to feature in this match. Also, with manager Pep Guardiola already having rotated his side somewhat, during the the thrashing of Chelsea in the other cup competition, he may or may not bring some of his starters back into the fold here.
Prediction: Manchester City 3, Southampton FC 0
Sorry, just not bold enough to call a big upset here.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager ofย The Sports Bank.ย Heโs also theย author of โTransatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,โ andย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.โ
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