A place in the FA Cup quarter-finals will up for grabs when Bristol City and Manchester City lock horns in the FA Cup fifth round on Tuesday.
The FA Cup enters its Round of 16 stage this midweek. And Manchester City will be aiming to progress into the next round when they make the trip to Ashton Gate to take on Championship side Bristol City on Tuesday night.
The Premier League winners have been far from dominant in recent weeks. But the visitors rediscovered their winning touch in the build-up, steamrolling to a comprehensive 4-1 win at Bournemouth at the weekend.
It was a clinical display of finishing from Manchester City, who looked like scoring every time they attacked. However, it was the first victory in three for the Sky Blues, who dropped two points away to Nottingham Forest in their last league outing before drawing the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie away to RB Leipzig last midweek.
The Bournemouth win kept them two points adrift of Arsenal in the title race. But Manchester City now turn their focus back towards the FA Cup, having already ousted the Gunners and Chelsea. Meanwhile, Bristol City enter this FA Cup tie in fine form, having gone 12 games undefeated. But avoiding a loss against Manchester City’s superstars would still be a major surprise.
Although they are pretty much stuck in the middle of the standings in the Championship and are unlikely to climb much up or down than their current position, Bristol City are actually riding the crest of a wave. The team has been unbeaten in the last nine games in the league, during which they recorded four wins and five draws.
The Robins have gone unbeaten at Ashton Gate in their last seven home games (W4 D3), with three of those four wins being shutout triumphs. Thus, while they will respect Manchester City’s class, they will not be rolling out the red carpet for the Premier League team, instead aiming for a spectacular giant killing.
They are also no strangers to punching above their weight in cup ties. They defeated Manchester City’s neighbours Manchester United 2-1 in the Carabao Cup almost six years ago and will look to put the reigning English champions to the sword this midweek.
Team News & Tactics
Bristol City
Nigel Pearson previews tomorrow night's @EmiratesFACup tie against Manchester City! 🗣
Watch in full 👉 https://t.co/L6iqgAKeec
— Bristol City FC (@BristolCity) February 27, 2023
Defender Rob Atkinson is set to miss the rest of the campaign due to a cruciate ligament rupture, becoming the second Robins player this season to meet the same fate following Ayman Benarous.
Nigel Pearson will also be without the services of other long-term absentees, Kal Naismith, Kane Wilson, and Tommy Conway. But Bristol City has no fresh injury issues to report from the weekend. Nonetheless, Harry Cornick and Anis Mehmeti are cup-tied.
Pearson will line his side up in the 4-2-3-1 formation. Max O’Leary will be the man between the sticks, with George Tanner, Zak Vyner, Tomas Kalas, and Cameron Pring forming the back four in front of him. Tanner and Pring pride themselves on foraying forward and will act as the overlapping full-backs who will try to pose a major threat in the final third.
Matty James and Joe Williams will form the double pivot in the middle of the park. One man, or we should say, a wonderkid since he is only 19-year-old, whose name is swirling around the rumour mill of top clubs in recent weeks is Alex Scott. The attacking midfielder has a remarkably bright future. And he’s a different class when he has the ball at his feet with exceptional on-the-ball ability.
With Tommy Conway out injured and Antoine Semenyo having left the club for Bournemouth this past January, Sam Bell has to lead the line and has scored twice, including in the win over West Bromwich Albion in the last round. Bell will play off the left against Manchester City, whereas Sykes will man the right wing. Top-scorer Nahki Wells has also rediscovered his scoring boots recently and will spearhead the line for the hosts here.
Bristol City have played exciting, attacking football. But doubts remain over the defence as it continues to hold them back in the second tier. Thus, their primary focus should be to defend astutely and kill off space to put balls between the lines, sending much of City’s play to the flanks for crosses into the box in Erling Haaland’s absence. But they will need to attack with purpose as well if they are to keep the tie finely balanced heading into the latter stages of the game.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): O’Leary; Tanner, Vyner, Kalas, Pring; James, Williams; Sykes, Scott, Bell; Wells
Manchester City
Manchester City have received a triple fitness boost ahead of Tuesday’s visit to face Bristol City in the FA Cup last 16. John Stones and Aymeric Laporte have returned to training, while Kevin De Bruyne is nearing full fitness after missing the weekend’s win at Bournemouth because of illness.
Stones, for one, has been sidelined for a month, while centre-back partner Laporte has missed the last week. Both will almost certainly not be risked at Ashton Gate Stadium, but Kalvin Phillips should get a rare start, while goalkeeper Stefan Ortega and left-back Sergio Gomez may both rotate in as well.
Guardiola has utilised a 3-2-4-1 formation in recent weeks. But given that Erling Haaland is set for a breather and there is a traditional holding midfielder in the form of Phillips in the lineup, he may revert to a much more simplistic 4-3-3 setup to avoid any FA Cup drama.
Ruben Dias will line up in a centre-back partnership with Nathan Ake at the back. The two full-backs, Rico Lewis and Gomez, will provide width higher up the pitch, with the former also utilised in an inverted role by Guardiola this season.
Up for the Cup 🙌#ManCity | @okx pic.twitter.com/6h4qT9hbpH
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 27, 2023
Phillips will sit at the base of the midfield, with Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan being the two box-to-box midfielders with the creative freedom to go as high up as the Bristol City box in order to unlock the opponent’s backline while not shying away from aiming long-range efforts if the opposition opts for a deep block.
A forward with a quick turn of pace and a special something, World Cup winner Julian Alvarez impressed for the Citizens against Bournemouth as he swept home the opener. And it was his shot that was deflected by Chris Mepham into his own net to make it 4-0 just after the break.
Riyad Mahrez could also come back into the starting XI after being dropped against the Cherries last time out. Phil Foden has had a topsy-turvy season. But he was a bright presence against Bournemouth and could keep his place in the team as he looks keen to end the season in much better form.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Ortega; Lewis, Dias, Ake, Gomez; Silva, Phillips, Gundogan; Mahrez, Alvarez, Foden
Key Stats
- Manchester City have won their last three matches against Bristol City in all competitions.
- This is the first-ever meeting between Bristol City and Manchester City in the FA Cup. They most recently clashed in the 2017-18 EFL Cup semi-final, with Manchester City winning both legs (2-1 at home and 3-2 away).
- The hosts have been knocked out in 13 of their 14 appearances in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
- Manchester City have won their last 10 away games in the FA Cup, a run that dates back to February 2019. It is the longest away winning run by a team in the history of the FA Cup.
- Manchester City have kept just two clean sheets in the last ten games across all competitions.
Player To Watch
Nahki Wells
If Bristol City are to come away with anything this midweek, they will probably place their hopes on striker Nahki Wells. Wells, now 32, has had an intriguing career that began semi-professionally in Bermuda before propelling him to the Premier League with Burnley.
That journey has seen him also appear for Carlisle, QPR, Bradford, and Huddersfield before playing for Bristol City in the Championship. The Bermuda international has really stepped up to the plate for the Robins this season, scoring 11 goals and laying on another six assists.
Prediction
Bristol City 1-2 Manchester City
This season’s domestic cup competitions have already produced a few surprises, with some Premier League clubs losing to lower-league opponents. But only a few expect to see one at Ashton Gate, as while Bristol City have been in fine form in the Championship since the turn of the year, their next opponent in the FA Cup is not just a league above them but miles ahead in terms of pure quality.
With Manchester City having one eye on the game against Newcastle United, the hosts may look to make light work of Bristol to rest a few key players. But, it won’t be an easy proposition by any means, with their defence being tested a lot recently.
It will be a big day for Bristol City to host one of the best teams in the world, and they will look to make a game of it, especially in front of their home supporters. The Hard Tackle predicts a narrow 2-1 victory for the visitors, with Boro giving them few moments of worry.
