How Southampton plan to end Man City’s treble hopes in FA Cup semi-finals

For so long, the talking point of the season was whether Arsenal really could win a quadruple. Then they lost the Carabao Cup final to Manchester City and an FA Cup quarter-final to Southampton – “ enjoy your quadruple, pal ” – in the space of a few days. So a few weeks later, as City prepare to meet Southampton at Wembley on Saturday, perhaps the most intriguing question now is whether Pep Guardiola ’s side can win a third treble of his reign, a treble bid which has snuck up on the blindside and caught us by surprise.

OK, it is not quite the treble of Premier League , Champions League and FA Cup which City won in 2023 . But winning the league, FA Cup and Carabao Cup would replicate their feat of 2019 and add an unexpected layer to Guardiola’s legacy, in what may turn out to be his final season at the Etihad Stadium. Because City have not looked like a trophy-winning side for much of this season.

They started November eighth in the league, nine points behind Arsenal. They scraped into the top eight of the Champions League standings. But as is often the case, mid-season, Guardiola has landed on the right blend of players in a system that is proving hard to beat.

Since they were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid last month, City have won all five matches including two victories over Arsenal, a 3-0 win over Chelsea and a 4-0 thrashing of Liverpool . Wednesday’s profligate 1-0 win at Burnley was perhaps a reminder that City are nothing like Guardiola’s previous treble-winning sides, and maybe that is what would make this season’s successes all the more remarkable, for what is an unremarkable team. Victory sent them top of the league for the first time all season, and now attention shifts to Wembley.