Southampton

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has gambled with his team selection by playing many of his second string for this FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

There are eight changes in total from the side that beat Burnley in midweek.

John Stones plays for the first time since the win over Newcastle in the earlier rounds and he also take the captain's armband, with his long-term future at City unclear.

James Trafford starts in goal, with the likes of Nathan Ake, Nico Gonzalez, Mateo Kovacic, Tijjani Reijnders, Phil Foden and Omar Marmoush all coming in.

Gianluigi Donnarumma, Abdukodir Khusanov, Marc Guehi, Bernardo Silva, Nico O'Reilly, Antoine Semenyo, Jeremy Doku and Erling Haaland all drop out.

Man City XI: Trafford, Nunes, Stones, Ake, Ait-Nouri, Gonzalez, Kovacic, Reijnders, Cherki, Foden, Marmoush.

Championship high-flyers Southampton make six changes from their draw against Bristol City last time out.

Welington, Caspar Jander, Cameron Braggs, Tom Fellows, Leo Scienza and Ross Stewart all come into the side.

Flynn Downes is suspended, while Ryan Manning, Shea Charles, Kuryu Matsuki, Cameron Archer and Cyle Larin drop out.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis captains the Saints against his old side.

Southampton XI: Peretz, Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Wood, Welington, Jander, Bragg, Fellows, Azaz, Scienza, Stewart.

Southampton drew with Bristol City on Tuesday but, before then, they had won seven in a row in the Championship, and they played really well to knock Arsenal out in the last round too.

I was at St Mary's Stadium when Saints knocked Manchester City out of the League Cup in 2023, which shows you what could happen here.

I don't see a shock this time, though.

Tonda Eckert has done a phenomenal job with Saints but I still think City will come out comfortable winners, as long as they are not as wasteful as they were against Burnley.

Sutton's prediction: 3-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Dan George & Adam Blackmore
BBC Sport, Hampshire

Image source, Getty Images

Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert said that his side had to "stay calm" during periods of the FA Cup semi-final when opponents Manchester City have the ball.

The Saints step away from their promotion-chasing campaign in the Championship on Saturday as they attempt to make it to the FA Cup final 50 years after they won the competition in 1976.

Eckert's side are unbeaten in their past 20 matches and have beaten two Premier League sides in Fulham and Arsenal on the way to the last four.

Although confidence within the group will be sky-high going into the tie, Eckert admitted that the task at Wembley will be as tough as they come.

"We will have some periods where we will have to suffer," he told BBC Radio Solent.

"You have to accept that there will be some moments where we will not touch the ball and we have to stay calm in those moments.

"If you see where City score most of their goals, they come from within the width of the six- and 18-yard box. There might be some moments where we have to defend inside the box and be very clear on how to do that.

"On the other hand it comes down to chances. We will definitely have some transition moments, and we need to be crucial on the ones they give to us as they won't be too many [in number].

"You can't rely on just defending in these games, you have to find another gear, give energy where we do have the ball and have spells in possession. We did this well against Arsenal and that will be key on Saturday."

You can follow all the build-up and action on Saturday, live on the BBC Sport website and app or watch the game on BBC One.

BBC Radio Solent have full commentary of the tie and will be on air from 10:00 BST until 20:00 BST.

There is not long to go now until Southampton fans travel in their numbers to Wembley Stadium for the chance to witness what could be a historic occasion.

Saints face Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final with kick-off set for 17:15 BST on Saturday.

BBC South Today's Lewis Coombes previews the big game with interviews from Finn Azaz, Saints legend Mark Dennis and more.

You can follow all the build-up and action on Saturday, live on the BBC Sport website and app.

As excitement builds for Wembley, watch a special episode of Saints Social with Dell legend Mark Dennis and streamer and Saints fan Tyrone joining Jono Holmes and Lewis Coombes to discuss Southampton's chances against Manchester City in this weekend's FA Cup semi-final.

Saints Social is also on BBC Sounds as usual, along with lots more news and views from St Mary's.

Image source, Getty Images

Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert said that his side "didn't have the best of starts" in their 2-2 draw with Bristol City.

Saints came from behind twice and pushed for a winner in the final moments of the game but were forced to settle for a point.

The draw leaves them in fourth position and three points off the top two places with two league games remaining.

"There's so many games in April and the expectations have been going up game after game and that's a credit to the players," Eckert said after the game.

"There's no easy game in the Championship and credit to Bristol [City] for such a good game, they made it difficult for us today.

"We had chances to win it and we have taken those in previous games but we couldn't tonight so we take the point and move on.

"The goals that we have conceded have always been very different and today we didn't have the best of starts, sometimes you just need to accept that it is what it is.

"We still managed to find a way back into the game and that speaks of the players and the group."

Saints are next in action on Saturday when they head to Wembley for their FA Cup semi-final game against Manchester City.

Image source, Opta

Southampton will hope to continue their late push for automatic promotion when they welcome Bristol City on Tuesday night (kick-off 19:45 BST).

The Saints are in excellent form with seven wins on the bounce in the Championship and are unbeaten in their past 16 games (W13 D3).

Tonda Eckert's side were 15th - 10 points adrift of the play-offs and 16 points behind second - following their last league defeat, which came against Hull City on 17 January.

They are now fourth - eight points clear of Wrexham in seventh and just one point behind second-placed Ipswich, who have a game in hand - having picked up five more points than any other team in that time.

Southampton face a Bristol City side who suffered their first defeat since Roy Hodgson took over last time out, losing 4-2 to Norwich following two wins and a draw under the former England manager.

The Robins now cannot make the play-offs or be relegated this season.

• Southampton have lost six of their past seven league games against Bristol City, though the exception was a 1-0 victory the last time they hosted the Robins in November 2023.

• Each of Bristol City's previous three away league games against Southampton has finished 1-0, with the Robins winning in November 2008 and December 2011, before losing in November 2023.

• Southampton are unbeaten in their previous eight home league games (W7 D1), winning each of the previous five; they last won six in a row in February 2024 (run of nine).

• Only Millwall (22) have conceded fewer away goals in the Championship this season than Bristol City (24), who could keep successive clean sheets on the road for the first time since October (run of three).

• Bristol City's Roy Hodgson has won on each of his past two league visits to Southampton with Watford in March 2022 (2-1) and Crystal Palace in April 2023 (2-0), having won on just one of his first five trips beforehand (D2 L2).