Colchester United vs Southampton prediction 08.08.2026 | EFL Cup

Colchester United come into Saturday’s Carabao Cup tie looking to improve on a difficult pre-season campaign. 

The U’s lost three of their last four pre-season fixtures, including a 2:0 home defeat against Charlton and a 1:0 road reversal at Stevenage last weekend. 

Defensive issues could be a cause for concern for the home side with two goals or more leaked in three of their last four fixtures. 

Danny Cowley’s side struggled to find much consistency in last season’s 12th placed finish in League Two. Colchester won 18 and lost 16 of 46 fixtures. The U’s eventually finished 12 points short of the playoff zone. 

Head coach Cowley has added several new faces this summer, with Sean Raggett, Jake Leake, Paul Digby and Bradley Ihionvien all in contention to make their debuts for the home side.

Southampton begin their 2026/27 campaign after a solid pre-season schedule in Germany.

The Saints won two of their three summer fixtures on German soil, including a 2:1 win against Preussen Munster last weekend.

Goals from Leo Scienza and Lewis Dobbin secured a comeback win for Tonda Eckert’s side.

Southampton have now won three of four pre-season fixtures, while they have lost only two of 29 games played in a superb run of form since the end of January. 

The visitors ended last season in controversial fashion, though, having been expelled from the Championship play-offs after admitting breaches related to spying on Oxford United, Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough. 

Southampton now begin the new league campaign with a four-point deduction in the Championship. 

Despite that disruption, Southampton still carry considerably more quality than Colchester and should be confident of making a winning start to their season

Head coach Eckert has been active in the summer market, with Cyle Larin and Daniel Peretz both making their loan moves permanent.

Lewis Dobbin is another new attacking option available for the home side.

On the injury front, Mads Roerslev remains sidelined with an Achilles problem, while Gavin Bazunu is also unavailable.