Predicted Starting Line-Up: Manchester City vs Southampton (FA Cup Semi-Final) | OneFootball

Manchester City travel to London this weekend to face Southampton at Wembley for a place in the FA Cup final against Chelsea or Leeds United. 

City moved back to top of the pile in the Premier League on Wednesday, beating Burnley 0-1 away at Turf Moor – a result which subsequently relegated the Clarets to the EFL Championship.

Erling Haaland’s goal in the fifth minute proved to be enough for City to take all three points in what wasn’t the most spectacular performance from the Blues. 

It was Burnley who had the first opportunity of the game, Jaidon Anthony’s curled effort towards the far corner was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

City then powered forward from there and Haaland took his chance when it came, Jeremy Doku burst past Bashir Humphreys and played a perfectly weighted ball through to Haaland in space, who took a couple of touches in his stride and chipped the ball over Martin Dubravka to give City the lead with just under five minutes played.  

From there it was pure domination from City but no more goals to show for it. The Blues had 28 shots on goal, with nine of them being on target.  

The one goal lead proved to be nervy at points in the game, with Burnley moving the ball with purpose at times but City held on to ensure they moved to top spot.  

But now they will play in the FA Cup final four once again with the target being to reach a fourth consecutive final in the competition.

The seven-time champions of the FA Cup defeated Liverpool 4-0 in the quarter-final of the competition three weeks ago to reach this stage, having won their last five games in all competitions.

As for Championship side Southampton, they shocked City’s title rivals Arsenal with a 2-1 win over in the quarter-final to set up a challenging battle with Pep Guardiola‘s domestic treble hopefuls. 

The Saints do pose a threat to City, currently unbeaten their last 20 matches across all competitions, winning eight out of the last nine of those games. 

City themselves are on an unbeaten run of their own, not losing a domestic match for 16 games since a 2-0 loss versus crosstown rivals Manchester United.

With that said, here’s how we think Pep Guardiola’s side will set up at Wembley Stadium. 

Predicted XI

James Trafford has played in every domestic cup match Manchester City have played this season, and that run is expected to continue. City won the Carabao Cup last month with the 23-year-old impressing between the sticks. He has kept a clean sheet in seven out of the 14 appearances he has made this season.  

Matheus Nunes has been City’s first-choice right-back this season and has proved to be a vital player in this campaign. The Portugal international will be looking to continue his brilliant form to secure a starting spot at the FIFA World Cup in the coming months. 

City’s centre-back partnership as of late has been established to be Marc Guehi and Abdukodir Khusanov, however Guardiola could slightly rotate with this being City’s third game in six days. Nathan Ake could return to the starting lineup ahead of Guehi on Saturday.

Rayan Ait-Nouri has been in good form in the last couple of months and he could well earn his spot at left-back against the Saints.  

Nico Gonzalez’s game time has been limited in the last few months since Rodri‘s return from injury but the latter picking up a calf injury against Arsenal last week, the former is expected to be called upon at Wembley.

It’s likely he will be partnered with a second Nico, Nico O’Reilly, who scored a brace at Wembley versus Arsenal last month. The 21-year-old can be played at left-back, where he has spent most of his game time this season, but Guardiola could see this as a chance to rest Bernardo Silva in midfield.  

Similarly to Nico, Tijjani Reijnders has seen his game time limited in the last few months but tomorrow could be the perfect opportunity for the Dutchman to get back into form as he adapts to English Football. The midfielder has been quite underwhelming since his debut goal and assist versus Wolves in August but there is no doubting his attacking quality.

Antoine Semenyo hasn’t exactly been in the electric form that he showed when he joined the club and for the whole of this season, contributing a goal in just one of his last nine appearances for the club in all competitions. However, he did get a goal and assist in City’s last FA Cup match against Liverpool and is expected to retain his place on the right-wing.  

Jeremy Doku has nailed down a starting spot on the left-wing this season and the Belgian never fails to entertain.

His explosive burst of pace is unstoppable for defenders and he has added physicality to go with it, making him one of the most difficult players for players to come up against. His assist for Erling Haaland was his 10th in all competitions this campaign and it doesn’t look like he will be stopping any time soon.  

Finally, it’s looking as though Haaland is getting back into form and will lead the line for City as usual. The Norwegian has scored five goals in his last four matches and will look to add to that at Wembley.

Starting XI: Trafford; Nunes, Khusanov, Ake, Ait-Nouri; O’Reilly, Nico, Reijnders; Semenyo, Haaland, Doku

Substitutes: Donnarumma, Stones, Guehi, Kovacic, Bernardo, Foden, Semenyo, Cherki, Marmoush