Manchester City vs Southampton Preview

Wembley Stadium stages the FA Cup semifinal on Saturday afternoon as Manchester City face Southampton in what represents one of the more striking mismatches in recent cup history — a Premier League title contender against a Championship side still chasing promotion back to the top flight. For Southampton, their presence at Wembley is a remarkable achievement in itself. For City, it is another piece of silverware to chase.

Manchester City arrive at Wembley in the most ominous form imaginable. Their most recent outing in the league saw them claim a 1-0 win away at Burnley — controlled, professional and entirely unsurprising given how dominant they have looked. Prior to that, they were at their ruthless best at the Etihad, defeating Arsenal 2-1 in a statement result that shook the title race. Before that, they produced one of the performances of the season — a 3-0 away win at Chelsea that was as commanding as the scoreline suggests. Earlier in this run came their FA Cup demolition, a 4-0 home win over Liverpool at the Etihad — a result that removed all doubt about their credentials in this competition. The oldest result here was a 2-0 away win at Arsenal, another elite scalp collected with ease. Five wins from five across all competitions, zero defeats. City are in devastating form and will take some stopping.

Southampton’s path to this game has been built on the back of similarly impressive Championship form, even if the quality of opposition differs wildly from what they will face on Saturday. Their most recent outing was a 2-2 home draw with Bristol City — a minor stumble in an otherwise excellent run. Prior to that, they were clinical on the road, winning 2-1 away at Swansea. Before that, they were in dominant home form, beating Blackburn 3-0 at St Mary’s. Earlier in this run came a solid 2-1 home win over Derby. The oldest result here was a stunning away performance — a 5-1 victory at Wrexham that underlined exactly why Southampton have pushed so hard for a return to the Premier League. Four wins and a draw is a strong return, and whatever criticism may be levelled at the level of competition, Southampton are clearly a well-organised and dangerous attacking side who know how to win football matches.

The head-to-head record favours Manchester City, who have won three of the last five meetings, with one draw and one win for Southampton. Most recently, Southampton held City to a goalless draw at St Mary’s, proof that the south coast side are not without the capacity to frustrate their opponents. Prior to that City won 1:0 at home and and 1:4 away vs the Saints.

Manchester City top the Premier League on 70 points from 33 games, level with Arsenal on points and goal difference but marginally ahead on goals scored — making this the tightest title race in years. A cup semifinal is almost a welcome distraction from that intensity, and City will view this as a chance to step towards domestic double glory. Southampton, meanwhile, sit in the Championship promotion race and arrive at Wembley knowing that whatever happens here, their season will be defined by whether they can return to the top flight — but an FA Cup would transform this campaign into something truly historic for the club.

In the UK, the match is live on BBC One and available to stream via BBC iPlayer, with BBC Sport Web also providing coverage. In the United States, viewers can catch the action on ESPN Select and fuboTV. The game is also available in Australia on Stan Sport and in Germany on DAZN Germany.

Manchester City — Last 5 Results

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
✅	Burnley	0–1	Manchester City	Premier League	22.04.2026
✅	Manchester City	2–1	Arsenal	Premier League	19.04.2026
✅	Chelsea	0–3	Manchester City	Premier League	12.04.2026
✅	Manchester City	4–0	Liverpool	FA Cup	04.04.2026
✅	Arsenal	0–2	Manchester City	FA Cup	22.03.2026

Southampton — Last 5 Results

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
🤝	Southampton	2–2	Bristol City	Championship	21.04.2026
✅	Swansea	1–2	Southampton	Championship	18.04.2026
✅	Southampton	3–0	Blackburn	Championship	14.04.2026
✅	Southampton	2–1	Derby	Championship	11.04.2026
✅	Wrexham	1–5	Southampton	Championship	07.04.2026

Head-to-Head — Last 5 Meetings

	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
	Southampton	0–0	Manchester City	Premier League	10.05.2025
	Manchester City	1–0	Southampton	Premier League	26.10.2024
	Southampton	1–4	Manchester City	Premier League	08.04.2023
	Southampton	2–0	Manchester City	EFL Cup	11.01.2023
	Manchester City	4–0	Southampton	Premier League	08.10.2022

 

TV Listings / Streaming

Country	Channel
UK	BBC One, TNT Sports 1, BBC iPlayer
Ireland	BBC One, TNT Sports 1, BBC iPlayer
USA	ESPN Select, fuboTV
Canada	Sportsnet World
Australia	Stan Sport
Germany	DAZN Germany
France	beIN Sports 2
India	Sony LIV, SONY TEN 1
Norway	Viaplay Norway
Netherlands	Viaplay Netherlands