Manchester City vs Plymouth Prediction & Betting Tips - FA Cup
England - FA Cup
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by Steve Ashfield | in FA Cup Predictions
Can Plymouth Argyle cause another FA Cup shock? The Championship side have already beaten two Premier League sides in this season's FA Cup. Can the Pilgrims make it a hat-trick away at Manchester City in the fifth round? Read our match prediction.
Plymouth are still struggling down at the bottom of the Championship but have beaten Brentford and Liverpool in the FA Cup this season. This trip to the Etihad will be financially rewarding for them but it looks like being the end of the road for them.
Manchester City won at Tottenham in midweek and are fourth in the Premier League. They will of course make plenty of changes for this game and that's just what Brentford and Liverpool did and paid the price. City regularly do this in the cup competitions and have had more than their fair share of success in recent years. With this not being the greatest of seasons by their standards, winning the FA Cup is perhaps more important to them this term.
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Manchester City vs Plymouth Form
Manchester City and Plymouth Last Matches
3/6 (50%)
0/6 (0%)
3/6 (50%)
Average stats (Last 6 matchs)
26 Feb 2025 - Premier League
23 Feb 2025 - Premier League
19 Feb 2025 - Champions League
15 Feb 2025 - Premier League
11 Feb 2025 - Champions League
8 Feb 2025 - FA Cup
4/6 (67%)
0/6 (0%)
2/6 (33%)
Average stats (Last 6 matchs)
23 Feb 2025 - Premier League
15 Feb 2025 - Premier League
11 Feb 2025 - Champions League
29 Jan 2025 - Champions League
25 Jan 2025 - Premier League
11 Jan 2025 - FA Cup
3/6 (50%)
0/6 (0%)
3/6 (50%)
Average stats (Last 6 matchs)
26 Feb 2025 - Premier League
19 Feb 2025 - Champions League
8 Feb 2025 - FA Cup
2 Feb 2025 - Premier League
22 Jan 2025 - Champions League
19 Jan 2025 - Premier League
3/6 (50%)
2/6 (33%)
1/6 (17%)
Average stats (Last 6 matchs)
22 Feb 2025 - Championship
19 Feb 2025 - Championship
15 Feb 2025 - Championship
12 Feb 2025 - Championship
9 Feb 2025 - FA Cup
1 Feb 2025 - Championship
3/6 (50%)
1/6 (17%)
2/6 (33%)
Average stats (Last 6 matchs)
22 Feb 2025 - Championship
12 Feb 2025 - Championship
9 Feb 2025 - FA Cup
1 Feb 2025 - Championship
22 Jan 2025 - Championship
18 Jan 2025 - Championship
1/6 (17%)
3/6 (50%)
2/6 (33%)
Average stats (Last 6 matchs)
19 Feb 2025 - Championship
15 Feb 2025 - Championship
25 Jan 2025 - Championship
11 Jan 2025 - FA Cup
4 Jan 2025 - Championship
29 Dec 2024 - Championship
Manchester City - Plymouth: Form Analysis
Manchester City have a strong recent record in the FA Cup. Last season saw them lose in the final and they're in the fifth round (the last 16) for the tenth successive season. The winners of this competition qualify for next season's Europa League and that might be important for City.
Wednesday saw them win 1-0 at Tottenham but that and this competition are their only routes into European football next season. To reach this stage, the Citizens have beaten Salford City and Leyton Orient. They needed to come from 1-0 down to win at Orient in round four.
Pep Guardiola's side have only lost two of their last 21 FA Cup ties with losses to Liverpool and Manchester United.
Another giant killing by Plymouth?
Two Premier League sides have already been beaten by Plymouth in this season's FA Cup. One of those was on the road at Brentford in round three. This is their first time in the FA Cup fifth round in 18 years and only the third this century.
The Pilgrims remain in relegation trouble in the Championship. They have gone three games without a win. The away victory at Brentford is the only one they've had in their last 21 competitive away fixtures.
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Manchester City against Plymouth Lineups: Starting 11
Formation : 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Formation : 3 - 4 - 2 - 1
Substitutes
Ederson
DefenderJ. Gvardiol
R. Dias
N. Gonzalez
M. Nunes
Savinho
ForwardE. Haaland
O. Marmoush
J. Doku
D. Grimshaw
DefenderT. Puchacz
K. Szucs
V. Palsson
J. Houghton
J. Edwards
MidfielderM. Baidoo
R. Al Hajj
C. Roberts
Missing players
J. Stones
M. Akanji
MidfielderRodri
Manchester City & Plymouth Squad Analysis
The good news for CIty was they didn't pick up any new injuries during their win over Tottenham. Guardiola will make changes for this match but the quality of the replacements is pretty high and that's not good news for Plymouth.
Not a bad list of replacements for City.
The words to use are most likely 'rotated squad' rather than 'weakened line-up.' What else can be written when the players coming into the team are likely to be Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Nathan Ake and Ikay Gundogan.
James McAttee is also likely to start this match. He played in the third round tie against Salford City and scored a hat-trick.
Plymouth could have Julio Pleguezuelo back in their starting eleven. He's been out injured since the fourth round win over Liverpool. The visitors will be dreaming of causing another upset but it's going to be a tough task indeed.
Perhaps that's not a bad thing as they really need to buckle down and fight their way out of the Championship relegation zone.
Manchester City - Plymouth Key Points
- Manchester City have only lost two of their last 21 FA Cup matches.
- Plymouth have gone three games without a win.
- Plymouth have only won one of their last 21 competitive away fixtures.
- Plymouth have played six away games this season in which over 3.5 goals have been scored.
- 11 of the last 14 Manchester City games have had over 3.5 goals scored in them.
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Our Manchester City vs Plymouth Prediction
Plymouth have had an excellent run in this season's FA Cup. Two Premier League sides have already been knocked out, though both fielded weakened line-ups. Manchester City will do the same but they've done that in the last two rounds and still scored ten goals.
Their squad may be an aging one but it's still extremely strong. Even with plenty of changes being made they'll field a team full of international players. Our main Manchester City v Plymouth preview is Manchester City to win and over 3.5 goals.
Manchester City vs Plymouth Alternative Predictions
James McAtee to score
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Manchester City vs Plymouth - FAQs
All tips are fully researched and given in good faith, but profits cannot be guaranteed.