Both of these sides were competing in the Championship last season, now a year later and Southampton are back in the Premier League. They travel to Welsh club Cardiff City in this Round 2 match of the Carabao Cup in which it is the first time Southampton will compete in this year’s edition.

Cardiff City

Capital based club Cardiff City have had a horrendous start to the season. They currently sit dead last in the Championship standings after three games, two games resulting in losses and one in a draw. Sunderland came to the Cardiff City Stadium on opening day and left with all three points as they won 0-2. Cardiff’s next match went a lot worse. They were hammered 5-0 against recently relegated side Scott Parker’s Burnley 5-0. Sunday’s Welsh derby versus Swansea saw they share a point as a Callum Robinson’s equaliser ensure neither side could be separated. There are other teams that have achieved the same results so far but Cardiff’s 1-8 goal difference is the reason they sit in 24th place.

It isn’t a complete goalscoring problem for Cardiff though as in their last five games across all competitions, The Bluebirds have registered seven goals. Two of those goals came in a 2-0 victory in Round 1 of the Carabao Cup beating a team in the division below, League One team Bristol Rovers. Cardiff were statistically dominant in that match. Impressive numbers like 17 shots and 5 big chances to Bristol’s 7 and 0 respectively, made it possible for Erol Bulut’s side to progress to the next round where they got scheduled to face Southampton.

Southampton

Last season Southampton earnt promotion back into the Premier League after a year’s absence, beating Leeds in the Championship Playoff Final. They have not started their campaign well however. Two losses from two games sees them in 16th place due to goal difference. In their opening game a 10 man Newcastle took all three points and the following week they saw another 0-1 defeat, this time at the hands of Nottingham Forest.

Russell Martin’s side made it to Round 1 of the tournament last year and that was were their run ended as they were beaten 3-1 by League Two team Gillingham. It seems a lifetime ago when The Saints made it all the way to the Carabao Cup Final back in the 2016/17 season when they had the likes of Virgil Van Dijk and Dusan Tadic.

What’s the tip?

Our betting experts have gone with Southampton To Win. They might have had a bad start to the season, but Southampton showed last year that they are worthy members of the Premier League. With Cardiff in a bad run of form as well as their priority most likely towards staying in the Championship, we see Southampton making it further than they did last season and progressing into Round 3 of the Carabao Cup.

What are the returns?

Through our bookmakers you can get odds as good as 8/11 via QuinnBet. Provided a £10 stake is placed, you could see winnings of £17.27.

Where can I watch this game?

UK viewers will be able to catch this game on Sky Sports+.