Manchester City take on Southampton at the Etihad Stadium in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday in the first part of a double bill which will see the two sides face off again just four days later in the Premier League.
The Citizens are running rampant at the moment, with ten goals scored and just one conceded in their last three outings as Pep Guardiola looks to step up his pursuit of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool side. The Sky Blues saw off Preston North End by three goals to nil in their last Carabao Cup fixture in September.
Meanwhile, Southampton find themselves in dreadful form after breaking the Football League top flight record for most goals conceded at home in a single match (9!) on Friday night against Leicester. The Saints have not kept a clean sheet since their 4-0 Carabao Cup third round win against Portsmouth in September, and the last time they scored four goals in one game was against Everton in a 4-1 victory in November 2017.
Pride is at stake in this match, as Southampton look to fix their leaky defence and improve on their utterly disastrous performance against Leicester on Friday night. Meanwhile Manchester City will be looking – more simply – to book their place in the last eight of the Carabao Cup with victory on Tuesday.
Where To Watch
| When Is Kick Off? | Tuesday 29 October |
| What Time Is Kick Off? | 19:45 (GMT) |
| Where Is It Played? | Etihad Stadium |
| TV Channel/Live Stream? | N/A |
| Referee? | Jonathan Moss |
Team News
Manchester City will be without Rodri after the Spaniard suffered a hamstring injury against Atalanta which will see the 23-year-old sidelined for a month, while Oleksandr Zinchenko sustained a knee injury on international duty which will keep the Ukrainian out for five to six weeks.
Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane remain long-term absentees as the pair recover from a knee injury and an ACL rupture respectively.
Despite picking up two yellow cards in his 3-0 win against Aston Villa, City claim on their club website that Fernandinho will be available for selection on Tuesday night.
Southampton will be without duo Moussa Djenepo (leg) and Cédric Soares (calf) who continue to rehabilitate following lengthy spells on the sidelines.
Predicted Lineups
| Manchester City: | Bravo; Walker, Otamendi, Garcia, Angeliño; Foden, De Bruyne, Bernabé; Mahrez, Sterling, Agüero |
| Southampton: | McCarthy; Valery, Stephens, Vestergaard, Bertrand(*); Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Höjbjerg; Boufal, Obafemi, Adams |
Head to Head Record
There have been 90 games played between these two sides in their history, with the honours relatively even. Manchester City have won 34 of those 90 games and Southampton have won 31, with 25 ending in draws.
The Citizens have, however, won the last five meetings by an aggregate scoreline of 15-4, with the last Saints win coming in a 4-2 win back in May 2016.
Recent Form
As mentioned, both teams head into this fixture in polar opposite form, with Manchester City dominating games and Southampton being docile in their recent matches.
Guardiola's side are unbeaten in their last three games in all competitions since their shock 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Wolves on 6th October, scoring ten in the process.
FULL-TIME | A game of two halves! After a frustrating 45 minutes, the goals eventually came!
— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 26, 2019
Played, boys!
3-0 女 #MCIAVL #ManCity pic.twitter.com/4XRxA3nvUW
Southampton have hit a low point and we haven't even reached November yet. After the 9-0 capitulation against Leicester on Friday, unsurprisingly Ralph Hasenhüttl has seen his side concede the most goals in the Premier League so far this season (25).
With 14 goals conceded in his last three matches in all competitions, it is evident which aspect of the game Hasenhüttl needs to focus on ahead of a daunting trip to the Etihad.
Despite the poor performances of late, Hasenhüttl is believed to still be the man to take Southampton forward in the long term.
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl has full backing of club board & majority owner Gao Jisheng. Staff told morning after 9-0 record PL defeat to LCFC that changes coming but that will not involve manager. More soon @TeleFootball
— Sam Wallace (@SamWallaceTel) October 26, 2019
With that in mind, here is how both teams have fared in their previous five fixtures.
| Manchester City | Southampton |
| Manchester City 3-0 Aston Villa (26/10) | Southampton 0-9 Leicester (25/10) |
| Manchester City 5-1 Atalanta (22/10) | Wolves 1-1 Southampton (19/10) |
| Crystal Palace 0-2 Manchester City (19/10) | Southampton 1-4 Chelsea (06/10) |
| Manchester City 0-2 Wolves (06/10) | Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Southampton (28/09) |
| Manchester City 2-0 Dinamo Zagreb (01/10) | Portsmouth 0-4 Southampton (24/09) |
Prediction
Whilst being controversial when picking results can occasionally get people talking, there should be no such controversy when predicting the result in this fixture.
Manchester City are in imperious form, and Southampton are down in the dumps.
Raheem Sterling has 13 goals and five assists in all domestic competitions so far in the 2019/20 season, whilst Saints frontman Danny Ings
The chasm between these two clubs is astounding and a Sky Blues win should really be a formality on Tuesday night.
Prediction: Manchester City 5-1 Southampton
Source : 90min