SKY Sports pundit Paul Merson believes Manchester City could hit Saints for 10 on Saturday.

Saints are returning to Premier League action following their Carabao Cup defeat to Pep Guardiola's side on Tuesday night.

A brace from Sergio Aguero and a Nicolas Otamendi header was enough to proceed to the next round despite Jack Stephens scoring in the second half.

Merson thinks that if City, who have already won 8-0 against Watford this season, get on a roll against Ralph Hasenhuttl's men, they will be almost impossible to stop.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Merson said: “The last thing you want is Man City away twice in a week. Some people might say they’d rather that than playing against a lesser team, but not me.

“Southampton were that bad against Leicester, and I’m not being horrible, but if Man City get going, that record is in danger. 

"How many times have you seen Man City play and after the game gone, ‘They could have won that 10-0’? 

“They only have to have a game where they start finishing all their chances and Southampton are in trouble."

Saints fell apart against Leicester last Friday following Ryan Bertrand's red card.

Hat-tricks from Jamie Vardy and Ayoze Perez were complimented with goals from Ben Chilwell, Youri Tielemans and James Maddison.

This led to Saints' biggest ever defeat in their 133-year history.

In response to the capitulation Hasenhuttl, the coaching staff and players decided to donate Friday's wages to the Saints Foundation.

This totalled over £200,000 and went some way to acknowledging how poor they were against the Foxes.

Merson added: “There are ways of losing football matches and Friday was as embarrassing as it gets. 

“You know it’s embarrassing because the players have given their money to charity, which fair play to them, is a good move. 

“But it’s not going to get away from the stigma of having a record that will probably last for a long time.”