Manchester City Draw Southampton in Carabao Cup

Manchester City Draw Southampton at Home in Carabao Cup

Manchester City have held the Carabao Cup for the last two seasons, can they make it a record third season in a row?

I have said before how much I like the Carabao Cup and it is not just because of the great record Manchester City have in the competition. It is because the final always feels more like it is a matter for the fans than the other Cup competitions. Prices for tickets tend to be kept relatively low and there are a great many seats actually available for the match going fan, not the reduced distribution that is around for the FA Cup Final.

It is the competition which is most under threat from the powers that be too, as the inevitable path towards more European matches and competitions will mean this will get eventually crowded out, becoming little more than a footnote in history, like the Intertoto or the Texaco Cup.

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Still the thought of progression, especially coupled with the chance to see many of our younger players generates interest in the games. Securing the win against Preston North End at Deepdale felt like a good result and approaching the draw I certainly felt the nerves growing.

Whether a team secures victory in these kind of knockout cup competitions can be down to a host of factors, from team rotation, to luck. But preparation can be crucial and one of the critical things is that Guardiola does seem to approach every game with almost equal respect. So, in many ways it did not matter too much who we would draw in the Fourth Round as we would give it our best shot.

Yet, it was still satisfying that we avoided any of the remaining top 6 sides and that indeed a few of them were actually drawn against each other, clearing pathways in the competition should we succeed against Southampton.

A home draw was a surprise and a game against a Premier League side was a harsher draw in some ways than we could have hoped, but Southampton are struggling to mount any run of form and may well be deciding to rest players to concentrate on League performances. That would be the best possible outcome for City.

The exact date of the game has not yet been set, as the TV companies are mulling over the first choices. However, I would suspect with the other ties on offer that the City match will not be a TV pick. The game will be played in the week commencing 28 October.

At stake will be a place in the Quarter Finals where we usually seem to draw Leicester City! Anyway the announcement of this fixture leads us to a crowded schedule for October, especially given we also have to suffer another random 2 week International break.

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Fixtures For October

Tuesday 1 October GNK Dinamo (Home) CL

Sunday 6 October Wolves (Home) PL

Saturday 19 October Crystal Palace (Away) PL

Tuesday 22 October Atalanta (Home) CL

Saturday 26 October Aston Villa (Home) PL

TBC Southampton (Home) Carabao Cup

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