Man City vs Southampton LIVE FA Cup updates

LIVEUpdated 5 mins agoMan City vs Southampton LIVE team news plus TV channel and stream for FA Cup semi-finalManchester City can book their place in the FA Cup final today when they face Championship side Southampton at Wembley.CommentsSportJack Flintham Sport Central Audience Writer and Ross Jackson Head of FootballIt's FA Cup semi-final day and Southampton stand in the way of Manchester City as they look to book their spot in the final.

Pep Guardiola's side are hitting their stride at the right time of the season and today they could confirm their place in a second cup final of the campaign, having beaten Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final last month.

In terms of the team news, Guardiola is expected to ring the changes. James Trafford will almost certainly start in goal, while Phil Foden, John Stones and Omar Marmoush could all come into the side. Rodri will not feature today and so Nico Gonzalez could come into midfield.

Guardiola brought up players being "unhappy" more than once in his pre-match press conference on Friday as he talked about his team selection choices for the semi-final.

Kick-off is at 5.15pm and we'll have build-up, updates and reaction from Wembley Stadium.

New UpdatesToday15:55 BSTMoments away from team newsWe will find out which team Guardiola has gone with shortly...

CommentsJack FlinthamToday15:35 BSTWhat a day for a semi-finalCity and Saints fans could not have asked for a better day for this game. The sunshine is bathing the national stadium with a spot in next month's final on the line.

CommentsJack FlinthamToday15:30 BSTWhy Wembley is losing its shine for City fansFor a lot of English football fans, Wembley Stadium is their Mecca. Supporters in their thousands make the pilgrimage to the national stadium to see their side compete in cup finals. Or, in the case of Manchester City, Southampton, Chelsea and Leeds this weekend, for the FA Cup semi-finals. But while Championship club Southampton sold out their initial allocation of 33,350, and have now received a further 2,400 tickets for the big game, the uptake among City fans has been slow. Part of the extra 2,400 tickets for Saints fans has come from City's unsold allocation, with supporters citing a range of reasons.

"Our take-up is half from the final last month," secretary of the Castleton branch of the City supporters' club, David Sigworth, told MEN Sport. "That’s a fact. The reasons for that is a) we have been to a final and b) without being too arrogant, we probably have another final to play for in May.

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CommentsJack Flintham‌Today15:25 BSTRoute to WembleyHere is how City and Southampton have made it to Wembley today.

Doncaster Rovers 2-3 Southampton

Manchester City 10-1 Exeter City

Southampton 2-1 Leicester City

Manchester City 2-0 Salford City

Newcastle United 1-3 Manchester City

Fulham 0-1 Southampton

Manchester City 4-0 Liverpool

Southampton 2-1 Arsenal

CommentsJack FlinthamToday15:21 BSTSliding doors momentA lot of City fans will have mingled with Gillingham supporters on the way to Wembley today. The Gills lost out to City in the 1999 second division play off final here at Wembley. Since then, it has been an upward trajectory for the Blues. As for Gillingham, they are at Barnet in League Two today. How things could have been.

CommentsJack FlinthamToday15:15 BSTRef watchReferee Craig Pawson is the man in the middle this afternoon. The last time he was in charge of a City game, the Blues beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield. That game was marred by controversy as Pawson sent off Szoboszlai late on and disallowed a third goal for City. Less of that controversy today would be good.

CommentsJack Flintham‌Today15:10 BSTCity fans confident - but there's a catchFor the most part, City fans are confident their team will book their place at Wembley for a third consecutive month today. However, the catch is if Guardiola does not change the team too much. There is a concern that a heavily changed team may find it difficult to beat this Southampton side. We don't have long left to find out...

CommentsJack FlinthamToday15:05 BSTCity's magicianSpeaking in the matchday programme, Rayan Cherki insists he wants to excite the fans every time he steps foot on the pitch. He said:

CommentsJack FlinthamToday14:54 BSTDoku wants to be best winger in the worldJeremy Doku wants to be seen as the best winger in the world - and the City man knows how to do it.

Doku's dazzling ability with the ball at his feet was obvious from an early age, and he became one of the youngest debutants in Anderlecht history as a 16-year-old in November 2018.

The following season, his new coach Vincent Kompany would tell the teenager that he saw him playing at a club like City, even though Doku struggled to see it himself; he now does not see it as a coincidence that the Blues opted to sign a player so highly rated by their former captain, who is now himself one of the best coaches in the game.

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CommentsSimon Bajkowski‌Today14:53 BSTPenultimate Trafford outing?If things go well, this could be Trafford’s penultimate appearance of the season. He has been exceptional this season when called upon. His triple save on his last City outing at Wembley was vital as they beat Arsenal. Guardiola would be delighted if Trafford was at the club next season but interest in him will be high.

CommentsJack FlinthamToday14:43 BSTChanges to be madeGuardiola’s approach to rotation will be interesting today. Such is the depth of this City team, even if they made 11 changes from Wednesday night they would still be considered favourites. However, City have a good eight day break before the trip to Everton. With such a gap, Guardiola can afford to go strong if he wants to.

CommentsJack FlinthamToday14:11 BSTPredicted XICity will not underestimate Southampton, particularly as Tonda Eckert's side knocked out Arsenal to book their Wembley spot. That being said, Guardiola will likely take the opportunity to mix things up and rotate his team. James Trafford will start in goal having featured in every round of the FA Cup so far.

Trafford's future is in doubt but he has not failed City when called upon. In defence, Guardiola will be tempted to welcome John Stones back to the starting line-up. The centre-back is out of contract at the end of the season and is expected to leave the club.

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CommentsRoss Jackson‌Today14:10 BSTRodri blowRodri is guaranteed not to play this afternoon so it will be interesting to see how the midfield lines up. O’Reilly moved into midfield on Wednesday night but Nico Gonzalez is the obvious Rodri alternative. He hasn’t had much of a chance since his fellow Spaniard returned from injury. Could today be the day for him to shine?

CommentsJack FlinthamToday14:07 BSTTricky tieThis would not be the biggest shock of this year’s FA Cup, Macclesfield have comfortably sealed that off, but if City were to lose it would be a surprise.

City do not underestimate lower league opponents, as proven in the third round hammering of Exeter. You expect Guardiola’s side to be the ultimate professionals but anything can happen in this competition.

CommentsJack FlinthamToday14:05 BSTHow to watch City vs Southampton Today's game will be shown live in the UK via Now TV, Prime Video UK, BBC One, TNT Sports 1, BBC iPlayer and HBO Max.

CommentsRoss Jackson‌Today14:05 BST'Unhappy' playersOn Friday, Guardiola brought up players being unhappy more than once as he talked about his team selection choices for the semi-final.

CommentsRoss JacksonToday14:05 BSTWelcome!Hello and welcome to today's live blog of City's FA Cup semi-final clash with Southampton.

Kick-off is at 5.15pm and we'll have build-up, updates and reaction from Wembley Stadium.

City are looking to book their spot in a second domestic cup final of the season but Guardiola will have the Premier League title race at the back of his mind as he makes his team selection, so expect some changes to today's line-up.