Manchester City are taken to polish off Huddersfield in clinical style in the FA Cup by our tipster David John.
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Manchester City v Huddersfield (1945 GMT, BBC1)
The Terriers proved more than a match for Manchester City last Saturday week at the John Smith’s Stadium but the bookmakers clearly don’t give them much cause for optimism ahead of the replay.
David Wagner’s outfit are right on the fringes of challenging for promotion from the Sky Bet Championship and are enjoying an impressive run of just one defeat in 18 games.
That said, they have been priced up as virtual no-hopers here with general quotes of 20/1.
There has to be more to it than simply playing a club from a higher division, albeit one of the wealthiest in the world with a myriad of international players in their ranks.
I would certainly fancy the visitors to have an opportunity or two to get on the scoresheet bearing in mind City have conceded in their last five home games and shipped three last week when given the absolute runaround at times by Monaco.
Huddersfield should be inspired as well having not reached the last eight of this competition since 1972 and a winnable trip to Middlesbrough is the reward on offer and would leave one of the duo just one result away from a Wembley appearance.
However, Wagner has made no secret of the fact promotion is now very much his priority in what has suddenly become a three, if not four-way battle for the top two spots with them right in the thick of the action.
Rivals Newcastle are the next visitors to West Yorkshire on Saturday evening and suddenly the situation becomes much clearer – a continued run in the FA Cup could be the sacrificial lamb at the Premier League altar.
As mentioned, the last time we saw the hosts they were involved in a zany 5-3 winning encounter against Monaco in the Champions League before jetting out for some warm-weather training in Abu Dhabi in the intervening period.
They currently sit 11 points behind Chelsea in the top flight and that little opportunity might be disappearing over the horizon sooner rather than later so sticking around in a domestic cup competition might be no bad thing for Pep Guardiola – look what it did for Jose Mourinho and the other half of Manchester on Sunday.
They get an extra day to recover from Wednesday night too as their next Premier League fixture at Sunderland does not come around until Sunday so Guardiola has no obvious reason to be overly cautious with his selection policy.
Sergio Aguero is a remarkable 2/9 in one place in the anytime scorer betting and his brace against Monaco suggests he is starting to enjoy his football again after a trying few weeks as he attempts to re-establish himself as the main man at the Etihad.
Midfielder Fernandinho seems well up for the challenge and said in the build-up “the FA Cup is a beautiful competition and we want to go as far as possible” so a careless slip-up here seems unlikely and more importantly, unthinkable.
It is still taking time to convince the world the back four and goalkeeper are making progress but this is an excellent chance to get some confidence and the home side are 4/5 to win the game to nil.
But I would rather take a dart at a bigger price in the correct-score market and go for 2-0 to the hosts (7/1 at William Hill) and a comfortable night that leaves Huddersfield done in the Cup until next year but also able to concentrate on their top target this season.
Prediction: Manchester City 2-0 Huddersfield
Opta facts:
o Manchester City have lost 1-0 in their last two home matches against Huddersfield (all comps), both in the second tier, in November 1997 and 1999.
o In fact, City haven’t beaten the Terriers in four home matches since a 10-1 second tier league win in November 1987 (D2 L2).
o The Terriers have failed to score in four of their previous five FA Cup games with Manchester City (D3 L2).
o Two of the last three FA Cup matches between these two sides have ended 0-0.
o Manchester City and Huddersfield are the only two sides yet to concede a goal in this season’s FA Cup. They have scored eight apiece.
o Prior to this season, Man City have been eliminated from the FA Cup at home by a lower league side in two of the last three campaigns (Wigan in 2014 and Middlesbrough in 2015).
o Huddersfield last eliminated a Premier League side from the FA Cup in 2008, beating Birmingham 2-1 at home in the third round.
o The Terriers have lost their last six away FA Cup matches at top tier opposition, conceding 17 goals in the process and at least two per match.
Posted at 1125 GMT on 28/02/17.