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Preview: Southampton vs. Man City - prediction, team news
Sports Mole previews Sunday's FA Cup clash between Southampton
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Preview: Southampton vs. Man City - prediction, team news
Sports Mole previews Sunday's FA Cup clash between Southampton
Preview: Southampton vs. Manchester City - prediction, team news, lineups
By Matt Law, Football Editor | 1d
Southampton and Manchester City will lock horns in the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon, with a spot in the semi-finals of the famous competition on offer to both teams.
The Saints won the FA Cup back in 1976, while Man City have lifted the trophy on six previous occasions, the last of which was in 2019, when they overcame Watford in the final.
Match preview
Improving on last season's 15th-place finish in the Premier League was always Southampton's number one priority this term, and the Saints are certainly on course to achieve that goal, currently sitting 10th in the table, boasting 35 points from their 29 matches of the 2021-22 campaign.
Ralph Hasenhuttl's side will enter this match off the back of three straight league defeats, though, losing by four at Aston Villa on March 5 before going down 2-1 at home to both Newcastle United and Watford.
March has not been a happy month thus far, but beating Man City to advance to the semi-finals of the FA Cup would be the perfect way to bounce back, and it will be fascinating to see how the match unfolds at St Mary's, particularly as Southampton have held the Citizens to two league draws this term.
The Saints, who previously won the FA Cup in 1976, have won three matches to advance to this stage of the competition, overcoming Swansea City and Coventry City before beating fellow Premier League West Ham United in the last round.
Southampton have only beaten Man City once in any competition since May 2016, while their recent form has been disappointing, but this tournament is certainly capable of throwing up surprise results.
Man City are bidding to win the treble this season and found out on Friday that they would be taking on Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with the first leg due to take place at the Etihad Stadium on April 5.
The Citizens will certainly be feeling the heat in the Premier League, though, with Liverpool now just a point behind them in second position; the Reds managed to win at Arsenal on Wednesday, 48 hours after Man City had been held to a goalless draw by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Pep Guardiola's side have hardly needed to break a sweat in this season's FA Cup, putting four goals past both Swindon Town and Fulham in back-to-back games before beating Peterborough United 2-0 in the last round.
Man City are six-time winners of this competition, including in 2019, when they beat Watford 6-0 in the final, but the fact that Guardiola has only lifted the FA Cup on one occasion since his arrival is somewhat of a surprise considering the incredible success that the Spaniard has enjoyed.
The English champions have been semi-finalists in the last two campaigns, meanwhile, and a record of just one defeat from their last 13 matches against Southampton should mean that confidence is high ahead of this game.
Team News
Southampton boss Hasenhuttl revealed during Friday's press conference that only two first-team players are available for this contest in the shape of Alex McCarthy and Lyanco.
Everyone else, including Nathan Tella, is back in training, meaning that the head coach has a number of big decisions to make, balancing squad rotation with a desire to reach the semi-finals.
As a result, Hasenhuttl is expected to select a strong starting XI with a mixture of youth and experience; Willy Caballero should get the nod between the sticks, while Moussa Djenepo is in line for a role out wide, but the likes of Armando Broja, Che Adams and Mohamed Salisu are all expected to start.
As for Man City, Ruben Dias (thigh) and Benjamin Mendy (club suspension) remain unavailable for selection, but Cole Palmer has a chance of recovering from a foot injury to make the squad.
Guardiola selected a strong XI in the previous round against Peterborough and that is again expected to be the case here, but there will be changes from the side that started against Palace last time out.
Indeed, Raheem Sterling, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan, Nathan Ake, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko could all come in for starts on Sunday afternoon, while there is likely to be a spot between the sticks for number two goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Caballero; Walker-Peters, Stephens, Salisu, Perraud; S Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Diallo, Djenepo; Adams, Broja
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Steffen; Walker, Stones, Ake, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Gundogan; Sterling, Jesus, Mahrez
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FA Cup scores, Football England - Flashscore.co.uk
FA Cup results on Flashscore.co.uk have all the latest FA Cup scores, tables, fixtures and match information.
www.flashscore.co.uk
A solid Premier League campaign has been underpinned by a second FA Cup quarter-final appearance in the last four seasons for Crystal Palace. A clean sheet against Manchester City in their last outing (0-0) is sure to boost confidence in the Palace ranks, though that confidence could well be quashed by a dismal H2H record against Everton across the last 14 meetings (W1, D7, L6).
A place in the semi-finals and a trip to Wembley awaits for Crystal Palace who are chasing their first ever FA Cup triumph, and with Patrick Vieira at the helm, confidence should be high. The former Arsenal man lifted the famous trophy in 2005 and is unbeaten in his last 18 games in the FA Cup as a player (15) and a manager (three)!
After a 99th minute winner against Newcastle in midweek (1-0) that saw boss Frank Lampard break his hand during the celebrations, Everton will be keen for the next game to come around as quickly as possible.
A FA Cup quarter-final could be the perfect tonic to secure back-to-back victories for Lampard’s men, and having progressed from 56% of their record 47 FA Cup quarter-final appearances, successive victories for the first time since September could be on the cards.
Though things may not be that straightforward for the ‘Toffees’ who have not only lost four straight PL away games, but have also come unstuck in nine of their last ten FA Cup trips to London (W1, D1, L8).
The last five of those saw Everton concede a whopping 14 goals, though Lampard could be the man to turn the tide on their travel sickness in the capital as only Pep Guardiola (17) has overseen more FA Cup victories than Lampard (11) since his first FA Cup game in charge.
Players to watch: No player has been involved in more FA Cup proper goals (four) this season than Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise ahead of the round (G2, A2), whilst Alex Iwobi was Everton’s hero in midweek and three of his last four Everton goals have served as the game’s opener.
Hot stat: After beating Everton 3-1 in December, Palace now have the opportunity to defeat Everton twice in the same season for the first time ever.
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Nottingham Forest v Liverpool commentary and teams: Forest eye third Prem scalp
Nottingham Forest welcome Liverpool to the City Ground in a mouth-watering FA Cup clash this evening. Steve Cooper’s side have already disposed of Arsenal, Leicester and Huddersfield Town in …
talksport.com
Steve Cooper’s side have already disposed of Arsenal, Leicester and Huddersfield Town in this competition, so confidence will be high.
However, Liverpool are on a roll right now, and if you include the penalty shootout victory over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, they have won 14 of their last 15 games in all competitions.
They are also seeking the so-called ‘quadruple’ and you can’t imagine Jurgen Klopp will take Forest lightly.
Forest have had an incredible rise this season since Cooper arrived at the City Ground, but this will definitely be the toughest test they have faced so far.
This will be the first meeting between the sides since April 1999 and Forest haven’t beaten the Reds for nearly 26 years.
Forest, though, are one of the best sides in the Championship, so this should be a fascinating cup tie.
Nottingham Forest v Liverpool: Team news
The home side might have to do without Scott McKenna against Liverpool. The Scottish international was withdrawn during Forest’s 3-1 win over QPR on Wednesday.
Given Forest’s push for the play-offs, he might not be risked for the game because he is an important player for Cooper.
Steve Cook is also injured, so Tobias Figueiredo is expected to fill in.
Liverpool won’t be able to call on Trent Alexander-Arnold after the right-back was ruled out for a few weeks with a hamstring problem, while Mohamed Salah hurt his foot during the win over Arsenal.
Klopp also confirmed that Alisson Becker will start in goal against the Championship side.
Apart from Alexander-Arnold and Salah, Liverpool have a full squad to choose from as they look to keep their ‘quadruple’ hopes alive.
Alexander-Arnold will play no part in the match on Sunday
), but we'd have been planning a trip to Wembley if Gareth had drawn the Toffees out for us.
. You Reds! Come on Forest!