Manchester City will host Championship side Birmingham City to kick-start their FA Cup campaign this year, and Alley Sport is here with Manchester City predicted lineup vs Birmingham City, Preview, Latest Team News, Prediction and Live Stream. Pep Guardiola’s men were semi-finalists in last season’s FA Cup when they were knocked out by eventual winners Arsenal. City will be looking to go the extra mile and emulate their 2018/19 success in this season’s FA Cup.
Manchester City vs Birmingham City, Match Preview
Pep Guardiola’s City team are in sublime form. Since they lost to Tottenham Hotspur on 21 November, the Citizens have not lost a single competitive fixture. They have progressed from the group stages of the Champions League and will be playing Borussia Monchengladbach in the round of 16. They have also reached the semi-final of the EFL Cup, where they will face arch-rivals Manchester United. City are also 5th in the league with 2 games in hand which can take them to 2nd place, if results elsewhere are in their favour.
City’s last game was a highly impressive 1-3 win over Frank Lampard’s Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge in the Premier League. City midfielders had a memorable day out at the Bridge and showed their forwards how to finish, with goals coming form Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne.
Their opponents, Birmingham’s form is the exact opposite, with the Blues losing 5 out of their last 6 games and find themselves at 18th place in the Championship. Aitor Karanka’s men face an almost impossible task of beating Manchester City, but football is an unpredictable game and an upset would sit well with the magic of the cup.
Manchester City predicted lineup vs Birmingham City: Latest Team News
Guardiola has a long list of injury-related absentees to deal with. The Spanish tactician would be without the services of new signing Ferran Torres, and fellow forward Gabriel Jesus is an injury doubt. Defenders Aymeric Laporte, Eric Garcia, Kyle Walker and new signing Nathan Ake are all doubtful for the clash. City also have to deal with rivals Manchester United, whom they play in the EFL Cup semifinal before this FA Cup fixture.
Birmingham City will miss winger Alen Halilovic, central midfielder Gary Gardner, full-back Kristian Pedersen and center-back Marc Roberts who are all on the sidelines with injuries.
Manchester City predicted lineup vs Birmingham City
We expect Guardiola to give rest to some of his key players who will be coming into this match off an important semi-final against Manchester United. Goalkeeper Zack Steffen might be given another start, after his good performance against Arsenal in the EFL Cup. Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko could play as full-backs with a potential center-back pairing of Ruben Dias and Fernandinho. Up front, youngster Liam Delap could be given an opportunity against a Championship team. Here’s our Manchester City predicted lineup vs Birmingham City:
Formation: 4-3-3
GK: Zack Steffen
LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko
CB: Fernandinho (c)
CB: Ruben Dias
RB: Joao Cancelo
CM: Rodri
CM: Ilkay Gundogan
CM: Phil Foden
LW: Riyad Mahrez
RW: Bernardo Silva
ST: Liam Delap
Manchester City predicted lineup vs Birmingham City: Score prediction
We predict this game to be a fairly straightforward victory for Manchester City. The Citizens have the stronger squad on paper and are in stellar form, in contrast to their opponents’ poor run of results of late. We expect the Citizens to defeat Birmingham 4-0.
Manchester City vs Birmingham City, Live Stream
Indian football fans can watch the game on Sony TEN network or stream it live on the SonyLIV app from 1900 IST, while fans in UK can catch all the action on BBC Sport from 1430 BST.
Follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel for exciting sports content and latest updates.
You might also be interested in:
- How will France Lineup At Euro 2024?
- How will Germany Lineup At Euro 2024?
- How will Spain Lineup At Euro 2024?
- Who Has Liverpool Beaten The Most? The Reds’ Stats Against This Club Will Amaze You In 2024
- What Is The 3-5-2 Formation in Football?
What is your Manchester City predicted lineup vs Birmingham City? Comment your predictions below.