MY ACCOUNT
– Southampton have scored in defeats to Tottenham, Liverpool and Newcastle this season
– Manchester City’s second-string have already beaten Liverpool and Chelsea in the Carabao Cup
– Recommended bet: Manchester City to win and over 3.5 goals
Southampton set themselves up for this Carabao Cup quarter-final clash with a heartening FA Cup defeat of Crystal Palace, but the sight of Manchester City’s second-string XI demolishing Chelsea a day later will have tempered any excitement.
Pep Guardiola made multiple changes against the Blues on Sunday, handing starts to youngsters Sergio Gomez and Cole Palmer, resting Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, and starting fringe players such as goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
They were still imperious. The youngsters impressed and the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez showed the quality Guardiola has in reserve as the Citizens romped to a 4-0 FA Cup victory.
Saints manager Nathan Jones now faces a dilemma. Should he risk tiring his first XI in pursuit of a shock success in a low-priority competition? Or does he keep his key men out of the firing line but risk a morale-sapping defeat that will invite further pressure on his struggling side?
Team news
Southampton centre-back Armel Bella-Kotchap is unlikely to be risked after he picked up a knee injury that kept him out of the squad that faced Crystal Palace last weekend.
Attacker Theo Walcott is unavailable with a calf problem and will join full-backs Juan Larios and Tino Livramento on the sidelines.
Reserve goalkeeper Alex McCarthy has an outside chance of returning from an ankle sprain to make his third League Cup appearance of the season.
Manchester City have a near fully fit squad to choose from, with centre-back Ruben Dias the only player ruled out as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury.
Winger Jack Grealish is a slight doubt through illness.
The stats
Guardiola has selected a second-string team in each of City’s three domestic cup outings this term, with fringe players, at least two youngsters and reserve goalkeeper Ortega, appearing on all three occasions. However, the reserves have still beaten Chelsea 2-0 and Liverpool 3-2 in the League Cup, while they also thrashed the former 4-0 in the FA Cup last weekend.
They visit a shaky Southampton side who have already conceded to a pair of League One visitors in the League Cup this season. Saints had to come from behind to beat Lincoln 2-1 at St Mary’s just before Christmas and needed penalties to overcome Sheffield Wednesday following a 1-1 draw in the third round.
Saints have scored in six of eight meetings with teams in the top eight of the Premier League this season but have conceded in all eight to collect just one point from those games — five of them featured four or more goals.
Manchester City have scored four or more goals in three of their last five matches against Southampton, including a 4-0 Premier League victory at the Etihad in October.
Prediction
The League Cup will not be a top priority for either manager, but while Guardiola will be able to field a high-class, confident set of reserves his opposite number does not have that luxury.
Jones must focus on getting Southampton out of the Premier League relegation zone and, with a crucial clash against fellow strugglers Everton awaiting on Saturday, he will almost certainly rest several key men against Manchester City.
That spells trouble against City’s impressive second string, who have already dumped Liverpool out of the League Cup while beating Chelsea in both domestic cup competitions.
World Cup winner Julian Alvarez is likely to feature after scoring against Chelsea at the weekend and, if he does start, looks a solid addition to any Bet Builder combinations — the Argentine has scored on each of his last four City starts.
Whatever the City line-up, they will be confident of racking up a few goals against Southampton, with Saints conceding in all six matches since Jones took charge.
However, Saints have generally gone down fighting this season — scoring against Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle — and, with three of City’s last five matches seeing four or more goals, this tie looks set to follow suit. Back Manchester City to win and over 3.5 goals — available at 13/10 with LiveScore Bet.
