Southampton’s expected line-up is set for a massive Carabao Cup win over Stoke City

Southampton kept their defensive deficiencies aside against Arsenal and Leicester City and performed much better against Manchester City. Despite the Saints suffering their eighth league defeat, Russell Martin’s side managed to maintain a decent goal difference as they only conceded a single goal against the reigning Premier League champions.

Southampton will now face Stoke City in the third round of the Carabao Cup. This is an important game to gain much-needed momentum for the next league game against Everton at St Mary’s Stadium. Some lineup changes are expected from manager Russell Martin and with that in mind, here is Southampton’s expected starting lineup to pull off a massive win over Stoke City.

In the second round of the Carabao Cup, veteran goalkeeper Alex McCarthy produced a masterful performance as he made two great saves in the second half to keep the score at 1-1. McCarthy later saved Ashley Young’s penalty to lead the Saints to a thrilling 6-5 win over Everton on penalties in the third round.

Aaron Ramsdale showed a brilliant performance recently despite a 0-1 away defeat against Manchester City and should therefore take a break in this game. If McCarthy delivers another world-class goalkeeping performance in this game, the 34-year-old could also feature in must-win games against Everton and Wolves.