Manchester City have a real solid chance of winning a treble this season, and if we’re really going glass half full, a long shot opportunity to enter the rarified air of accomplishing a quadruple. Go here for more on that. The next step is to win on Saturday at Newport County, a tiny club that resides in 15th place in the fourth tier of English football.
Four days after this clash comes a restart of their UEFA Champions League campaign, as the Citizens will visit German side FC Schalke in the first leg of their round of 16 tie. Then four days after that another meeting with Chelsea, in the EFL Cup final. With so much fixture congestion, expect Sky Blues boss Pep Guardiola to heavily rotate his squad.
Although he may not rotate his squad as much as one might think, as he’s fielded some very strong sides so far in this competition.
“In our box we are going to suffer because they are taller and stronger than us, so in some areas they are better than us,” Guardiola said in his prematch press conference. “We have to try and bring our game in the way we are stronger than them.”
The Bank’s Manchester City Starting XI (4-3-3) Prediction vs Burnley FC (FA Cup 4th round)
Forwards: Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Riyad Mahrez
Midfielders: David Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden
Defenders: Danilo Nicolas Otamendi John Stones Fabian Delph
Goalkeeper: Ederson
Manchester City at Newport County FA Cup FYIs
Kick-off: Saturday February 16, Rodney Stadium, 5:30pm (BST), 12:30 (EST)
Form Guide (across all competitions):
Newport County DWWWL Manchester City WLWWW
Pep Guardiola Press Conference Video:
Odds via Betfair: Manchester City 1/16, Draw 15/1, Newport County 35/1
Injury Report for both sides: go to this link
Prediction: Manchester City 5, Newport County 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.