MANCHESTER CITY continue their quest for more EFL Cup glory with a trip to St Mary's to take on Southampton on Wednesday night.
The Citizens have dominated Carabao Cup competition in recent times, with a run of four successive triumphs between 2017-18 and 2020-21.
That being said, Pep Guardiola and Co saw their grip on the trophy loosened last term at the hands of Liverpool, although they took their chance to exact revenge by eliminating the Reds in the round of 16 of this year's edition.
After making light work of Chelsea in the FA Cup on Sunday, Guardiola will be hoping for a similar performance from his star-studded side at Southampton this midweek.
Having overseen four-straight Premier League defeats since taking the reins at St Mary's, Nathan Jones' team picked up a morale-boosting 2-1 win at Crystal Palace in the FA Cup last weekend.
The Saints must now turn their attention towards the EFL Cup, where they could hardly have asked for a tougher quarter-final tie.
Outright Betting
Southampton have successfully navigated two home games en-route to this stage but the odds unsurprisingly imply that the last-eight is where their journey will come to an end, with a Saints success on offer at 12/1 (Bet 365) while the draw in normal time can be backed at 11/2 (Bet 365).
Manchester City, who swatted Southampton aside in a 4-0 Premier League win at the Etihad in October, are a lowly 1/5 (Bet 365) for the victory here.
Betting Angles
There is no value in siding with Man City at the above-mentioned odds, however backing the visitors to overcome a -1.75 start on the Asian Handicap looks like a nice way in at 17/20 with Bet 365.
Here we would land a half win if Man City claim top honours by two or more goals, whereas an away victory by three clear strikes would deliver a full pay out.
While Pep Guardiola will likely have one eye on this weekend's Manchester derby showdown with United at Old Trafford, the City boss has an abundance of talent to choose from, and that was evident in Sunday's evisceration of Chelsea.
As for Southampton, it would be fair to say that the EFL Cup certainly won't be a priority at this stage given the fact that they are currently propping up the Premier League table.
With this in mind, I'm prepared to back Man City to claim a typically efficient win whilst covering a -1.75 hurdle on the Asian Handicap in the process.
This selection would have secured some form of profit from a sizeable 12 of Manchester City's 17 victories across all competitions this season so far, so siding with the same wager on Wednesday night holds obvious appeal at 17/20 (Bet 365).
After starting at right-back for Southampton on Saturday in the FA Cup, I'll also have a small play on Vojnovic Lyanco to pick up a card at 3/1 (Bet 365) should be deployed in the same role here.
The Brazilian defender is not exactly renowned for being card magnet but he should have his hands full here with Jack Grealish, who is regularly on the wrong end of some rough treatment from his direct opponents.
This EFL Cup match between Southampton and Manchester City will be played on Jan 11, 2023 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Southampton vs Manchester City prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
