FA Cup, quarter-final Sunday, 30/03/2025 at 5:00 PM
Manchester City have to save the 2024/25 season – and luckily they still have a chance of winning the title! The FA Cup quarter-finals are coming up at the weekend, and, fittingly, their opponents are in the midst of a crisis.
The bookmakers are only giving the Skyblues a minimal advantage in the game, and the last few months are still making themselves felt. However, I am a little more optimistic and will therefore tell you in my Bournemouth ManCity tip why I think the guests will advance.
22 points behind the leaders? Anyone who hasn’t followed the Premier League this season and is now looking at the table wondering where Manchester City have got to will be amazed.
In the fall of 2024, Pep Guardiola’s team slid into a very bad crisis from which they have not properly recovered to this day.
They are now winning again from time to time, but it’s unlikely that they will be able to salvage the season properly.
In the Champions League, they were knocked out of the play-offs by Real Madrid (okay, that could also happen in normal form), and in the league they are fighting to reach fourth place.
Perhaps the FA Cup can ensure that fans still have something to look forward to this season. For six years in a row, City has at least reached the last four, and twice they have also won the title during this period.
In 2017/18, they were knocked out before the semi-finals for the last time. So, historically speaking, this is an absolute boost for City, of which there can never be enough at the moment. Before the international break, the team attracted negative attention again.
First they lost 0-1 to Nottingham, then they drew 2-2 with Brighton. It’s hard to take too much credit for still being in the FA Cup, as the opponents were anything but difficult.
8-0 against Salford, 2-1 against Leyton Orient and 3-1 against Plymouth Argyle, Guardiola was able to rest some stars here and still knew that it would be enough to advance in the end.
This time it’s very different, because Bournemouth, a competitor from their own league, is waiting. A brief personnel update: keeper Ederson could still be out here, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake definitely are.
City had celebrated an incredible 15 wins in a row against Bournemouth, never losing to them. But then came the first leg of the current season in November, and here they suffered a historic 1-2 defeat!
Could it be because of this result that we don’t see a clear picture with our PayPal betting providers? With regard to a victory, odds of 2.70 to 2.30 are offered, and in terms of pure progression, we are at values of 2.00 to 1.72.
So City are already favored, but we can’t speak of a clear lead. And that despite the fact that Bournemouth has not been getting into gear for a few weeks.
The Cherries were sweeping through the Premier League from November to January, going eleven consecutive matches unbeaten and suddenly becoming a top team. But a 2-0 loss to Liverpool brought about the turnaround.
They did go on to beat Southampton 3-1, but that was the bottom-of-the-league side. Three defeats and a draw followed, with even Tottenham, Brentford and Wolverhampton hardly managing anything.
Bournemouth are in crisis and have also lost their last three home games. In the FA Cup, they knocked out Wolverhampton on penalties in the last 16, having previously advanced against Everton (2-0) and West Brom (5-1).
The fact that the Cherries are now in the quarterfinals at all is by no means a given. In fact, after 2020/21, this is only the second time in history that they have reached the last eight – a semi-final would be an absolute first!
It’s the last chance for ManCity to win the title! The Citizens absolutely have to progress in the FA Cup, so it’s a good thing that it’s a very popular competition. They haven’t lost before the semi-finals in several years.
Bournemouth are basically an absolute favorite opponent, but nothing is normal this season. The Cherries have lost their good run and things aren’t going well in the league anymore.
Therefore, I can imagine a close game in principle, but I don’t think that the guests will go home empty-handed in the end. So I decided on the following bet:
ManCity reaches the semi-finals!
