Manchester City are out of the EFL Cup for the second back-to-back season after a loss to Southampton on Wednesday.

Since joining the club in 2016, manager Pep Guardiola has won the League Cup four times. In fact, at one point, such was their winning streak in the competition that followers of the English game started calling the trophy the Manchester City cup. 

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Then, how does anyone explain the Premier League giant’s going out of the competition to a team that is battling relegation in the league? And more importantly, does it ring a bell ahead of the big Manchester derby on Saturday? 

“We had a bad night, we didn’t play good. We had a bad start, and yeah, we didn’t perform well,” Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said in the post-match press conference.

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“To win games – and I am not talking about titles, to win games you have to deserve it, and today that was not the case. Southampton deserved to be in the semi-final,” he added.

Talking about Southampton, Guardiola referred to the fact that they managed to beat Chelsea. 

“Three days ago these guys beat Chelsea. We have to be prepared for every single game when you play for Manchester City,” he said.

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As it turned out, the Spanish tactician benched Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland- two of his key players, against Southampton. It seemed that compared to other competitions, he was taking the EFL Cup lightly and his body language during the presser after the match indicated that he was not particularly unhappy with the fact that they are out of the EFL Cup. 

When asked about how the defeat bodes for the upcoming League clash with arch-rivals Manchester United, Guardiola said that it is a “different competition”. 

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“It’s a different competition, but of course, if you perform this way, you have no chance,” he said.

“Many years they are looking to be in this position. We know exactly what we have to do to play better and we will do it.”

In the previous Manchester derby, the City shamed the Red Devils with a 6-3 win. United will be hoping for a strong comeback given their excellent form since a dismal show in the first few matches under new manager Erik Ten Hag. 

Could the tables finally turn in Manchester? We will have the answer on Saturday.