FA Cup: Posh Day out for the Sky Blues

Peterborough United vs Manchester City

Manchester City head to Peterborough on Tuesday for an FA Cup match to capture the romance of the oldest cup competition in the world.

The Premier League leaders are visiting the bottom club in the English second tier, and Peterborough have a chance to reach the quarter-finals for the second time in their history. If they pull it off the Posh will record one of the shock FA Cup 2022 results of the decade, though they will have to find some form that has recently eluded them.

The 15,000 capacity London Road Stadium will be packed to the rafters for the visit of the Sky Blues, but the Posh come into the game on the back of a 3-0 home defeat to Hull City, while their visitors extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to six points with a hard-fought victory over Everton.

The pre-match FA Cup 2022 betting odd shave the Sky Blues as short as 1.11 to win, but if Peterborough can stay in the game for the opening 20 minutes or so, their fans can play a big part.

Talking Points

City’s ugly win gets them back on track 

Following a rare defeat at home to Spurs last week, the Sky Blues had a chance to get back on the victory trail with a trip away to Everton. But they didn’t have it all their own way as the Toffees pressed with a high energy approach, and only a defensive slip-up late in the game allowed Phil Foden to nip in for a finish.

The win gives Pep Guardiola’s side some breathing space at the top of the table, six points clear of Liverpool, though the Reds have a game in hand and the two juggernauts are set to collide in April.

Until then, Guardiola will lead his team with his usual confident manner as they aim to win a treble of Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, and Peterborough is the latest hurdle. The Sky Blues beat Championship leaders Fulham 4-1 in the fourth round and that hints at a big win on Tuesday, but the hosts will surely try to lift their game to meet such illustrious visitors.   

McCann back at Peterborough

Promoted as League One runners up last season, the Posh have struggled this term, currently sitting bottom of the table and a run of just one point from six league games has left them in a desperate situation.

The club has moved to change the leadership and have accepted the resignation of former boss Darren Ferguson to make way for former player and coach Grant McCann, who has been appointed on a two-and-a-half-year deal. 

The 41-year-old former Northern Ireland midfielder managed the club for two seasons between 2016 and 2018, and was a fans’ favourite as a player, making 159 appearances for the club, scoring 29 goals.

His first game back in charge was a tough assignment at home to Hull City, the club which sacked him as manager just a month ago following the takeover of the Tigers by Acun Ilicali. He would have dearly loved to get one over his former employers but his hopes were sunk as Hull ran out with a comfortable 3-0 victory.

But McCann is a tough cookie and he’ll fire his team up for the visit of City. The Posh had plenty of possession against Hull, almost 60 per cent of the ball, but they lacked a cutting edge, registering just a single shot on target.

The boss will look to top scorer Jonson Clarke-Harris, who has hit five for the season and has enjoyed a fruitful spell at the club. The Jamaican striker scored 31 goals last season to win the League One Golden Boot, and he’ll be looking forward to testing himself against the very best centre-backs, maybe even Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte.

It’s a huge challenge.   

While Peterborough were battling for points at the foot of the Championship, their upcoming opponents were winning in the Premier League and the Champions League, where they visited Sporting Lisbon and showed all their attacking prowess with a 5-0 win.   

At SBOTOP odds of 12.00 to win this game, Peterborough are a long shot of course, and they would bite your hand off for a draw, at odds of 8.75, and a chance of a penalty shoot out.   

History

Peterborough are twice winners of the fourth tier of English football and twice runners up in the third tier, and they reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in 1965.

While Manchester City are seeking a fourth league title in five years and have won the Carabao Cup for the past four season’s they have won only one FA Cup during Guardiola’s six-year reign, in 2019.   

In terms of recent form, Peterborough are without a win in six while Manchester City are unbeaten away in eight and I fear, for the hosts, this is only going one way. 

Betting Tip

The Posh are at 1.94 with the +2.50 goals start and a two-goal defeat would represent a brilliant achievement, something many Premier League sides fail to do.

0-3 is the most likely outcome, at odds of 5.40, while a repeat of City’s last Cup win, 1-4, is available at a price of 14.00.

 

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