FA Cup, 3rd round, Saturday, 11.01.2025 at 18:45
It’s a game that’s right up there in the “David vs. Goliath” category! Manchester City enter the FA Cup this weekend having seemingly overcome their deep crisis in the league.
The guests at the Etihad will be a club from the fourth division, one that is in strong form at the moment. And yet, in my Manchester City Salford tip, I’ll tell you why I think everything will go according to plan and the Skyblues will prevail relatively clearly – at least I think so!
There have been two months that Manchester City would like to erase from history. The beginning of November saw the start of a crisis in the Premier League that lasted until Boxing Day and very probably made defending the title impossible.
Six defeats, two draws and just one win – fans, players and managers were all at a loss. It seemed as if they simply couldn’t find a way out of the doldrums, because even against relegation candidates, they couldn’t manage anything.
When they won 2-0 against Leicester shortly before the turn of the year, many were still reluctant to believe it. The most recent 4:1 win against West Ham at least gave supporters some relief.
What remains are the defensive wobbles. Only four white vests have been collected in the entire season! The gap to the top is a whopping twelve goals, and Liverpool have even played one game less.
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There’s no question that Manchester have had the toughest first half of the season in recent years, perhaps even in the last two decades. Before the league action continues next Tuesday, another competition awaits.
The best teams in the FA Cup don’t start until this weekend. How do the Citizens fare in this competition? The last time they were at the top of the podium was in 2023, so it’s not that long ago.
Last season, the Sky Blues narrowly lost the final against city rivals United 2-1. When was the last time they suffered an early exit? Since the 2018/19 season, the team has actually always reached the top four!
The last time was in 2011/12, when they were knocked out in Round 3, but their opponents back then were Manchester United, so this time their rivals are definitely in a completely different category
Seven years ago, the club suffered their most recent embarrassment in the competition when they were knocked out by Wigan Athletic. This weekend will be a real first, as City have never faced Salford before.
Some of our bookmakers are not even offering odds for the game, as the situation seems too clear-cut. A win for the home side averages out at 1.04!
Since the opponents come from League Two, they will not be surprised that they are the clear underdogs with odds of 50.0 (the odds vary between 23.0 and 65.0).
Salford City are active in the fourth English division, but have ambitions of promotion. And that’s despite only six wins in the first 18 rounds – that’s how many there have been in one go!
The Ammies have won all of these victories by zero, so their self-confidence has naturally increased enormously. Of course, I don’t need to mention that their opponents are not even close to Manchester City’s level
In the FA Cup, Salford have so far beaten Shrewsbury Town (2:1) and Cheltenham (2:0), which is also not comparable to the current champions. Has the club ever caused a sensation in the competition?
It’s an absolute novelty for the club to be in the 3rd round, so the best result in history has already been achieved – a win against Manchester City would probably be the greatest moment ever!
Manchester City are playing at home against a fourth division club – we should really only have to talk about the level of victory! Actually, because the Himmelblaue were in a really bad crisis for a long time.
Now, it seems, they are on the road to recovery and Erling Haaland is scoring again. Pep Guardiola’s stars like the FA Cup anyway and have always finished at least in the top four for years.
As the visitors are now really several divisions below City and are also allowed to contest a 3rd round in the FA Cup for the first time ever, I have decided on the following logical bet:
Manchester win by at least 3 goals
