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Man City v Salford
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Kick Off: Saturday 11th January at 17:45
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Competition: FA Cup
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Man City v Salford Bet Builder Tips
The Ammies make the relatively short journey to the Etihad this weekend in what will be their first-ever encounter with the Cityzens.
This FA Cup third-round tie will be the third time that Salford City have faced Premier League opposition, having suffered defeats against Everton (3-0) and Burnley (4-0).
⭐ Man City v Salford Best Bet
Since their defeat to Wigan in the 5th round of the FA Cup in the 2017/18 season Manchester City have won 24 encounters with lower league opposition across the FA Cup and EFL Cup. Salford have never reached the 3rd round of the FA Cup before, in their previous 2 matches versus Premier League opponents in a cup competition they lost 3-0 and 4-0 to Burnley and Everton respectively. It’s 13 years since Manchester City last suffered defeat at this stage of the competition.
Despite the gulf in divisions between the 2 sides it should be pointed out that Salford are one of the form teams in the EFL currently and have won their last 6 matches without conceding a goal.
It’s impossible to expect anything but a Manchester City win but it’s unlikely to reach landslide scorelines.
🟢 Man City v Salford #WhatOddsPaddy
A fun outside play may be to combine Manchester City youngster Nico O’Reilly as the first player to score with Salford right wing-back Haji Mnoga picking up the games first yellow card.
Mnoga is likely to have Jack Grealish has his direct opponent. Grealish has been fouled 32 times in 1039 Manchester City minutes this season.
Mnoga’s foul numbers in League Two this season read 0-0-0-2-1-1-3-4-0-4-2-4-3-0-1-1-1-4-5.
O’Reilly is yet to score a senior goal but he did have a good goalscoring record from midfield when with Manchester City’s under 18’s.
He has shown some threat this season in minimal minutes played. In 175 minutes of action in the Carabao Cup versus Watford and Tottenham O’Reilly had chances equating to 0.67xG.
👕 Man City v Salford Predicted XI
🔍 Man City v Salford Players to Watch
🔵 Jack Grealish
Pep Guardiola has been publicly critical of Jack Grealish’s condition. The 100 hundred million pound man seemingly needs to re-prove that he can still be a part of Manchester City’s future with his manager throwing his support behind Savio, Jeremy Doku and Phil Foden as his preferred left wing options.
Grealish is more known for his ball carrying rather than his shot numbers but he has taken an effort at goal on average once every 55 minutes this season. With a need to prove Guardiola wrong and the reduced quality of the opposition Grealish could be worth chancing in Saturday’s shot markets.
🔴 Matty Young
Salford have Sunderland loanee Matty Young in goal. 18 year old Young is an England youth international held in the highest regard at The Stadium of Light. The start to Young’s senior career has been incredible – he has kept 7 clean sheets in his first 8 Salford league matches.
Young warmed up for the clash with Manchester City by recording 6 saves in Salford’s last fixture – a 1-0 win versus MK Dons.
Young can expect to be similarly busy on Saturday. Betfair have a special match stat market available where you can combine 6+ Salford goalkeeper saves with 10+ Salford fouls. This feels like a good way of getting involved with this 3rd round matchup.
➡️ Salford Goalkeeper to Make 6+ Saves & Salford to Commit 10+ Fouls @ 2.10 with Paddy Power
📂 Man City v Salford Cheat Sheet
Andy’s Bet Club is the best place for Football Betting Predictions. We’ve got this weekend’s FA Cup slate covered with FA Cup Betting Tips.
We’ve got plenty more in store for this week’s footballing action, look out for our Liverpool v Accrington Betting Tips, although this might not be a giant-killing, you can see our FA Cup underdogs acca tips, as well as Andy Robson’s acca predictions too.
💻 Man City v Salford Form and Tactics
Manchester City are likely to use the fixture to play some promising youngsters so expect the likes of James McAtee, Nico O’Reilly and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey to start as well players who have found themselves on the periphery of the first team in recent weeks like Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker.
Pep Guardiola has managed to get his men to halt the slide by putting together back-to-back wins together versus Leicester and West Ham in their last 2 matches. However they still displayed a tinge of vulnerability, giving up 1.30 xG to Leicester and 1.37xG to West Ham.
Despite their underperformance this season Manchester City still average the most possession in the Premier League (61.5%), make the most accurate passes per game in the Premier League (551.4) and take the most touches in the opponents box per game in the Premier League (826) so the blueprint of the game is set out prior to kick off. Expect the match the be Manchester City dominant territorially with Salford reliant upon transitions if they are to pose a threat.
Salford are a very capable side who will relish the task at hand. Matty Young is a supremely well regarded talent in goal. Tyrese Fornah is a formidable presence in midfield who offers strength, power and aggression. Kelly N’Mai is dangerous on the flank. Cole Stockton and Hakeb Adelakun offer an X factor in attack.
On average Salford concede 0.8 goals per game – the best numbers in League Two. They are 2nd for the most fouls per game and 3rd for the most yellow cards. They won’t be afraid to get stuck into their more illustrious opponents.
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🏁 Man City v Salford Ref Watch
- Referee: Joshua Smith
- Averages 4.1 cards per game this season (21 matches)
- Has given 1 straight red card this season (Joel Bagan – Cardiff v Leeds)
- Has given 4 penalty kicks this season in 21 matches
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* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.
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