On Sunday afternoon, Southampton and Manchester City will face off in the FA Cup, with a place in the semi-finals on the line for both teams.
The Saints last won the FA Cup in 1976, whereas Man City has won it six times, the most recent of which being in 2019 when they defeated Watford in the final.
Southampton’s top target this season has always been to improve on last season’s 15th-place finish in the Premier League, and the Saints are well on their way to achieving that goal, currently sitting 10th in the table with 35 points from 29 games in the 2021-22 season.
However, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side is coming off three straight league defeats, having lost by four goals to Aston Villa on March 5 and then falling 2-1 at home to both Newcastle United and Watford.
March hasn’t been kind to us so far, but beating Man City in the FA Cup semi-finals would be the ideal way to turn things around.
Saints, who won the FA Cup in 1976, have won three games to reach this stage of the cup, defeating Swansea City and Coventry City before defeating fellow Premier League side West Ham United in the last round.
Southampton has only beaten Man City once in any competition since May 2016, and their recent play has been dismal, but this tournament has the potential to produce some unexpected results.
Man City is attempting to win the treble this season and learned on Friday that they will face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals, with the first leg set for April 5 at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s side hasn’t needed to break a sweat in this season’s FA Cup, scoring four goals in back-to-back games against Swindon Town and Fulham before defeating Peterborough United 2-0 in the final round.
Man City has won the FA Cup six times, most recently in 2019, when they defeated Watford 6-0 in the final, but Guardiola has only won it once since his arrival, which is surprising given his great success.
Meanwhile, the English champions have reached the semi-finals in each of the last two seasons, and they have only lost one of their last 13 games against Southampton, so they should be confident going into this encounter.
Only two first-team players, Alex McCarthy and Lyanco, are available for this match, according to Southampton manager Hasenhuttl, who announced this during his news conference on Friday.
Everyone else, including Nathan Tella, has returned to training, which means that the head coach must balance squad rotation with a desire to reach the semi-finals.
As a result, Hasenhuttl is expected to name a solid starting XI that includes a combination of youth and experience; Willy Caballero is slated to start in goal, while Moussa Djenepo is projected to play out wide; nevertheless, Armando Broja, Che Adams, and Mohamed Salisu are also expected to start.
Ruben Dias (thigh) and Benjamin Mendy (club suspension) are still out for Man City, although Cole Palmer has a chance to make the squad after recovering from a foot injury.
Guardiola fielded a quality XI against Peterborough in the previous round, and he is anticipated to do so again here, but there will be alterations from the starting lineup against Palace last time out.
Indeed, Raheem Sterling, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan, Nathan Ake, Gabriel Jesus, and Oleksandr Zinchenko might all start on Sunday, while number two goalkeeper Zack Steffen is set to preserve his place between the posts.