Second in the Premier League meets second in the Championship in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday afternoon as Manchester City are set to face Sheffield United.
After winning six league games on the bounce, Pep Guardiola’s side find themselves in 2nd place in the Premier League table, just four points behind Arsenal. City have a game in hand over the Gunners and the two sides are set to meet in a title showdown next weekend.
Manchester City have sailed through the opening rounds of this competition and recorded a 6-0 victory over Burnley in the quarter-final stage of the competition. On the other hand, Sheffield have had to show grit and determination to make it this far, with a 91st-minute winner against Blackburn seeing them progress to this stage of the cup.
City featured in midweek Champions League action as they eased past Bayern Munich in a convincing performance to reach the semi-final stage of the competition. Pep Guardiola’s side drew 1-1 on the night to add to their 3-0 win in the first leg at the Etihad.
Paul Heckingbottom’s side look set to join Burnley as the two sides to record automatic promotion to the Premier League. The Blades are currently seven points above their nearest challenger with just four games left in their season.
Sheffield United also featured in midweek action as they hosted Bristol City at Bramall Lane. The only goal of the game came in the second period thanks to a goal from city loanee James McAtee, who netted his sixth goal of the campaign.
In league competitions, Manchester City have dominated this fixture's recent history, having not lost in the last eight league meetings of these sides. Sheffield have struggled to score in recent editions of this fixture and have not scored in the six Premier League meetings of these sides.
Manchester City recorded a slender victory when these sides met in the 2020/21 Premier League campaign, which was played with no fans. The only goal in the game came in the opening ten minutes when Gabriel Jesus found the back of the net from close-range.
These sides have met in the FA Cup on six prior occasions, of which Manchester City are yet to win. The last time that they met in the competition came in the 2007/08 cup, in which The Blades recorded a slender 2-1 in bizarre circumstances as a splattering of balloons helped Sheffield score a winner.
Unsurprisingly, given the disparity in leagues of these sides, it is City who are heavily favoured at the bookies, currently priced @ 1/9, whilst an upset win for Sheffield is priced @ 18/1 and a draw is @ 8/1.
We are backing Erling Haaland to score a header in 90 minutes @ 11/2 as he has proved to be a dangerous aerial threat so far this season. The Norwegian has scored 7 headers in all competitions so far this campaign.