It’s the first of two trips to the Etihad Stadium in five days for Southampton, as Ralph Hasenhüttl takes his side to face Carabao Cup holders Manchester City for a place in the quarter-finals.
THE MATCH
Man City vs Southampton
Carabao Cup fourth round
Etihad Stadium
Tuesday 29th October, 7.45pm GMT
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Assistants: Simon Bennett, Edward Smart
Fourth official: Darren Bond
WHICH KIT WILL SAINTS BE WEARING?
Saints will be in their away kit of dark grey shirts with yellow trim, with yellow shorts and socks. The goalkeeper will be in pink.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Both teams are on the hunt for a place in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
For Southampton, it’s an opportunity to right the wrongs of the club’s heaviest defeat, at home to Leicester in the Premier League on Friday night.
City are unbeaten in the competition for three years, lifting the trophy in each of the past two seasons, so Saints could hardly have landed a tougher draw.
But the visitors won convincingly at Portsmouth in the third round and made the final in 2017, and Hasenhüttl has picked strong teams in the lead up to this point.
TEAM NEWS
Hasenhüttl is likely to make changes to his side, but knows he will need to pick a strong starting line-up to compete with one of Europe’s finest teams.
Injured duo Cédric and Moussa Djenepo, who have been missing for a number of weeks, are expected to remain sidelined.
Pep Guardiola will take the opportunity to rotate his players, and may choose to rest the likes of Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne.
Youngsters Eric Garcia, Angeliño and Phil Foden could be three players who are given the opportunity to make a positive impression and reduce City’s average age.
FORM GUIDE
Southampton:
Leicester (h) L 0-9
Wolves (a) D 1-1 (Ings)
Chelsea (h) L 1-4 (Ings)
Tottenham (a) L 1-2 (Ings)
Portsmouth (a) W 4-0 (Ings 2, Cédric, Redmond) (Carabao Cup)
Man City:
Aston Villa (h) W 3-0 (Sterling, D. Silva, Gundogan)
Atalanta (h) W 5-1 (Agüero 2, Sterling 3) (Champions League)
Crystal Palace (a) W 2-0 (Jesus, D. Silva)
Wolves (h) L 0-2
Dinamo Zagreb (h) W 2-0 (Sterling, Foden) (Champions League)
THE MANAGERS
Ralph Hasenhüttl: "After this (the Leicester game), no more talking from us, no more messages – the time for that is over.
“Our only focus is working towards Manchester City. This where we must direct our entire energy, and this is what we owe to our fans.”
Pep Guardiola: “I am not going to judge them on that or prepare to play against them based on what happened against Leicester.
“They will try to do their best. It’s not easy but they are incredible professionals. It’s different competitions – the Carabao Cup and the Premier League – and we will try to prepare to face good teams.”
ONES TO WATCH
Nathan Redmond: Redmond remains a bright spark in Saints’ attacking play, and has performed well in this season’s Carabao Cup.
The winger set up Michael Obafemi’s winner at Fulham in the second round, before arriving off the bench to seal a 4-0 win in the south coast derby on his return to injury in round three.
Guardiola has spoken of his admiration for Redmond in the past, and knows his speed and trickery mark him out as a danger man.
Riyad Mahrez: Mahrez has been in good form of late, and will see this game as an opportunity to force his way into City’s Premier League starting XI.
The winger is second only to Kevin De Bruyne in the assist charts in all competitions this season, and has scored three goals in his last six starts.
The Algerian, a Premier League title winner with City and Leicester, is always a danger from the right flank with his ability to cut inside and shoot on his stronger left foot.
TOP PERFORMERS
Inclusive of all competitions
Southampton:
Goals:
Danny Ings 6
Moussa Djenepo 2
Nathan Redmond 2
Assists:
Sofiane Boufal 2
Danny Ings 2
Kevin Danso 1
Man City:
Goals:
Raheem Sterling 13
Sergio Agüero 10
Gabriel Jesus 5
Assists:
Kevin De Bruyne 10
Riyad Mahrez 6
David Silva 4
HEAD TO HEAD
Played 90
Man City 34
Draws 25
Saints 31
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
December 2018: Saints 1-3 Man City (Højbjerg)
November 2018: Man City 6-1 Saints (Ings pen)
May 2018: Saints 0-1 Man City
November 2017: Man City 2-1 Saints (Romeu)
April 2017: Saints 0-3 Man City
DID YOU KNOW?
- This is the fourth time Saints have been drawn against Man City in the League Cup, progressing on each previous occasion, in 1978/79, 1982/83 and 1999/2000.
- Saints have kept nine clean sheets in their last 12 League Cup matches, losing just two matches in this run (W8 D2).
NOT AT THE GAME?
Don’t worry if you can’t make it to the Etihad Stadium – we’ve got you covered! We’ll bring you all of the action, as well as a host of behind-the-scenes access.
Check out our interactive match centre at southamptonfc.com, with all of the live in-game updates and free audio commentary of the match, and be sure to follow us on social media for further updates and exclusive content:
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