Watford show chink in Southampton's armour that Man City can exploit in FA Cup clash

Watford’s 2-1 win over Southampton exposed a high-press problem Manchester City can take advantage of in this weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final clash at St Marys.

Pep Guardiola’s meetings with Ralph Hasenhüttl this season have been a hard one to read. The Austrian has drawn both fixtures, with his players showing their quality, but each time City fans have left the game feeling their side should have got more.

Back in September, City had recovered well from an early-season setback against Tottenham Hotspur with three consecutive Premier League wins, scoring 11 goals in the process. And next up was the visit of Hasenhüttl’s side to the Etihad Stadium.

With a notoriously shoddy record in east Manchester, many expected this to be a walkover for the in-form City. However, Southampton limited City to just one shot on target in a 0-0 draw and could have even stolen all three points themselves if Jon Moss didn’t overturn a contentiously given penalty against Kyle Walker.

It was a similar story when the two sides met at St Mary’s in late January. City enjoyed a staggering 75% possession, but after Aymeric Laporte had responded to Kyle Walker-Peters’ early opener, the Blues failed to find that all-important winner – ending a run of 12 consecutive Premier League wins.

They’ve become quite the kryptonite for Guardiola, but there will have to be a winner in Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final, whether that’s in normal time, extra time or – what City fans will dread – penalties.

The Saints have lost their last three in the Premier League and are on a poor run of form, with a particular trend in last Saturday’s defeat to Watford highlighting an area Guardiola will look to exploit – their vulnerability with a high press.

On the day, Cucho