Manchester City and Pep Guardiola are on the cusp of yet another FA Cup final but standing in their way is one of the most in-form teams in England. Southampton and Tonda Eckert toppled Arsenal en route to this semifinal and will be no pushovers come Saturday.
Eckert said pre-match: "First of all, it's an honour for me to stand on the sideline next to him [City manager Guardiola], but the goal is very clear -- we go there to compete, and we go there to win the game."
Here's everything you need to know about the FA Cup semifinal:
How to watch:
The match will be shown on TNT Sports, HBO Max, BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK, ESPN Select in the U.S., SonyLIV in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Kick-off time: Saturday, April 25 at 5:15 p.m. GMT (11:15 a.m. ET; 9:45 p.m. IST and 1:15 a.m. AEST).
Venue: Wembley, London
Referee: Craig Pawson
VAR: Tony Harrington
Injury and Team News:
Manchester City
Josko Gvardiol, D: broken leg, OUT
Rodri, M: hamstring, OUT
Rúben Dias, D: discomfort, OUT
Southampton
Flynn Downes, M: suspended, OUT
Ryan Manning, D: suspended, OUT
Alex McCarthy, GK: wrist, OUT
Mads Roerslev, M/D: knee, OUT
Talking Points:
City look to keep momentum up
As the City juggernaut gathers steam ahead of the business end of the season, Pep Guardiola will not want an FA Cup semifinal loss to hurt that momentum they've been gathering. Their run of five wins in the last five matches includes two defining wins against Arsenal (one in the League Cup, one in the Premier League) and a thorough dismantling of Liverpool in the quarters of this competition.
This is a team in fine form, led by a manager who is not used to losing much (big domestic games especially) in April and May and they will take some stopping.
Southampton have no fear
And Southampton will believe they can indeed stop City. There is no team in the country in better form. Before they were held to a 2-2 draw by Bristol City on Wednesday, they were on an eight-game winning streak (Including stunning Arsenal in the previous round). In fact, the last time the Saints lost a match was January 17, putting them on a 20-game unbeaten run.
At the heart of it is Tonda Eckart, 33, in his first senior coaching gig. The German has overseen a remarkable rise from the doldrums, and the Saints are now fourth in the Championship, sitting comfortably in the promotion playoff places.
Having beaten Arsenal already, he will have his high-flying team believing that City is beatable.
City's squad allows them to rotate
To say Guardiola was unimpressed with his side's performance in the 1-0 win over Burnley would be an understatement. After the game, he told Sky Sports that he "had a lot of doubts about the line-up today because of the fatigue from Sunday [vs Arsenal]."
Pertinently for this game, he added: "I have to think perfectly about [the Man City line-up vs. Southampton], knowing that if we win it will be a good decision and if we lose it will be a bad decision, to have a little bit fresh legs in the FA Cup semifinals."
The thing is, though, City's squad is so strong that a few major changes oughtn't make too much of a difference to their overall quality. Erling Haaland may be one of the modern-day greats, but Omar Marmoush is a capable deputy. Savinho showed his quality in a cameo against Burnley after replacing Antoine Semenyo while in the wings are the likes of John Stones, Nathan Aké, Mateo Kovacic, Phil Foden and Tijani Reijnders. Plus, James Trafford's quality has never been in doubt.
Look at those names again... just how many teams can boast such great depth?
Can Haaland break his semifinal drought?
If Guardiola were to rotate, though, and leave Haaland out, he'd miss out on a chance to break a rather unbelievable drought. Haaland has never scored or assisted in a single semifinal or final in any competition for City -- he's played 14 games such games (1,140 minutes), had 25 shots and taken 62 touches in the opposition box.
Those numbers simply don't compute with the regular Haaland in City sky blue that we all know, and it must be gnawing at him.
What do the numbers say?
City have faced he Saints four times before in this competition. They won 5-0 in 1909-10, 3-1 in 2006-07 and 4-1 in 2021-22. They lost 5-1 in the third round in 1959-60.
Southampton really don't like playing City recently -- they have lost 13 of their last 18 matches against City in all competitions (W2 D3)
City are on the cusp of a record for they have won their last three semifinals - no side has ever reached the FA Cup final in four seasons in a row. This is their eighth straight semi.
The last non-Prem team to reach the FA Cup final was Cardiff City in 2007-08 (they beat fellow Championship side Barnsley in the semi). But he last time a lower-division team beat a top-division team to reach the final was all the way back in 1991-92, when Sunderland beat Norwich.
City have won their last 21 FA Cup matches against sides from outside the Premier League, scoring 84 goals and only conceding eleven. No first division team has ever done better.
Southampton have lost eight of their eleven matches at Wembley (W3), including both of their FA Cup semi-finals played there in 2017-18 against Chelsea and 2020-21 against Leicester. The three wins? The 1976 FA Cup final against Man Utd, the 2010 EFL Trophy final against Carlisle and the 2024 Championship play-off final against Leeds.