Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that he is expecting a tough test against Southampton in the Carabao Cup later today.
The Saints travel to the Etihad Stadium to take on the defending champions.
Ralph Hasenhuttl will be looking for some sort of positive reaction from his players following their abysmal display during the 9-0 defeat to Leicester City and Guardiola feels the Saints will battle well.
As quoted on FourFourTwo, he said:
It’s not easy but they are incredible professionals.
The manager will be sad for a moment, for one night, but after that, they have to move forward. They will try to do their best, so I am not going to judge them on that or prepare to play against them based on what happened against Leicester.
Will the Saints be able to cause City problems?
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Definitely. Guardiola really is struggling for defenders and Fernandinho is also suspended, meaning it could another makeshift back four for the Carabao Cup holders.
This will give the Saints plenty of encouragement to go to Manchester and try to attack them with pace and intensity.
The teams also meet again on the weekend in the Premier League so we’ll have to wait and see how the players perform in part one of the doubleheader.
