ENGLISH FA CUP BETTING PREVIEW - MANCHESTER CITY VS SOUTHAMPTON

English FA CUP

2026-04-25 - Manchester City vs Southampton

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

Manchester City v Southampton
Football: English FA Cup Semi Final
Saturday 25th April 2026 - Kick Off 5:15pm
This game is live on TV

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Manchester City

There will be plenty of Manchester City fans keeping tabs on what is going on over the other side of North London while this FA Cup Semi Final is being played at Wembley Stadium, but Pep Guardiola and the players are simply focusing on winning every football match they are competing in. They moved to the top of the Premier League table on goal difference on Wednesday, but Arsenal now play twice before Manchester City are next in League action and so the focus has to be on reaching yet another FA Cup Final.

It will be the fourth season in a row that Manchester City would be competing in the FA Cup Final if they can progress on Saturday, although they have lost the 2024 Final to Manchester United and 2025 Final to Crystal Palace. The club have regularly made this stage under Pep Guardiola, but Manchester City had lost three straight FA Cup Semi Finals before winning the last three in a row.

Manchester City suffered a relatively early exit in the Champions League after the Last 16 Second Leg defeat to Real Madrid, but they have bounced back to win 5 in a row in all competitions. Once again they are on course to win the domestic Treble, but Guardiola will have noted some of the nerves in the 0-1 win at Burnley on Wednesday and will be trying to settle some of the players down.

A strong team has to be expected with Manchester City next in Premier League action a week on Monday, but James Trafford will likely be selected in goal. Players like Nathan Ake, Rico Lewis, Nico Gonzalez, Savinho, Phil Foden and Omar Marmoush could be used if the manager wants to freshen things up.

Southampton

It is the penultimate weekend of the Championship season, but Southampton's late surge towards the automatic promotion spots took a huge blow in the 2-2 draw against Bristol City during the week. There is still an outside chance of move into the top two, but the players and fans may now be hoping this could be the first of three visits to Wembley Stadium before the conclusion of the campaign.

Tonda Eckert has really shown his capabilities as manager of Southampton having taken over a squad that were struggling, but he will also be aware that he will be judged on whether or not he has taken The Saints back into the Premier League. The FA Cup run is a bonus and Southampton have upset Arsenal in the Quarter Final, but the club have lost both previous FA Cup Semi Finals played at Wembley Stadium, while winning just 1 of the last 5 FA Cup Semi Finals overall.

Southampton are unbeaten in the last 20 games in all competitions, but the momentum of having won 8 in a row was snapped in the home draw with Bristol City during the week. There is a big game coming up against Ipswich Town, but Southampton can focus on this fixture with the likelihood of finishing in the top two potentially diminishing earlier in the day when Championship rivals have played.

Jack Stephens suffered an injury last time out and is a doubt. The manager will be expected to pick a strong Southampton team, even if the Championship is the priority.

Head to Head

Manchester City took four points from Southampton in the Premier League last season, but both were competitive fixtures.

The game at the Etihad Stadium ended 1-0 in favour of the hosts, while the game at St Mary's ended goalless.

The last time these clubs met in any Cup competition, Southampton upset Manchester City in a 2-0 win at home in January 2023.

Prediction

The Premier League title race has really heated up, but Manchester City will have to wait and see how Arsenal get on across the next two weekends.

At the same time, manager Pep Guardiola will want to see his team maintain momentum and confidence when playing in the FA Cup Semi Final and it is difficult to make a case for anything other than a Manchester City win.

They were a little nervous at times in the win at Turf Moor on Wednesday, but that may have partly been down to the emotional climbdown from the win over Arsenal. After scoring early, Manchester City were in a position to really secure the three points, and improve the goal difference, but they were not as composed in the final third.

With that in mind, Pep Guardiola may choose to freshen up his team a little bit to just keep the entire squad happy and focused on the prizes.

Manchester City have won the last 3 FA Cup Semi Finals played without conceding a goal, while 2 of those wins have been by at least two goal margins.

Pep Guardiola will have respect for the job that Tonda Eckert has done with this Southampton team, while he will be reminding his players that Manchester City are facing The Saints rather than Arsenal thanks to the upset in the FA Cup Quarter Final.

It should be noted that the upset was at St Mary's, but Manchester City cannot take anything for granted against a team that are unbeaten in 20 games in all competitions. Not only have Southampton beaten Arsenal, but they have also won at Craven Cottage in this FA Cup run, although the 2-2 draw with Bristol City during the week has almost certainly ended the automatic promotion bid.

This should allow Southampton to play with some freedom, but it is a big gap to bridge against a Manchester City team that is on a roll and the likelihood is that the current Premier League leaders have too much.

The Pick :

Manchester City 2-0 Southampton

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Manchester City - 1.5 Asian Handicap at 1.62 with SportBet.One