Man City vs Huddersfield tips and predictions: Citizens' B team to pile misery on toothless Terriers
- Seb Sternik
- 5 January 2024
Manchester City begin the defence of their FA Cup title when they welcome a struggling Huddersfield Town side to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon (1400 GMT)..
Let’s make no bones about it, the Terriers are in for a ruff-day. Darren Moore’s men are out-of-form, they’re playing away from home and the team awaiting them have just been crowned as the best on the planet.
Huddersfield enter the weekend on the back of a 4-1 loss away at league leaders Leicester. While there’s certainly no shame in losing to the Championship’s form side, it doesn’t bode well for their chances against Pep Guardiola’s machine.
Since their shock defeat at Villa Park at the start of December, City have gone on a seven-match unbeaten run, winning six.
During this run, Guardiola’s men have scored 19 goals, including four against Fluminense in the Club World Cup final.
Let’s be frank, with City determined to close the gap to Liverpool in the Premier League, expect Guardiola to make some serious changes for this FA Cup clash.
On one hand, that may sound promising if you’re a Huddersfield fan. On the other, many of City’s fringe players will see this as an opportunity to shine.
Kalvin Phillips, for instance, could get a rare start as he looks to bolster his stock in Guardiola’s eyes – especially with the player determined to make the England squad for the forthcoming European Championships.
With City’s young guns looking to impress and Huddersfield leaking goals like a busted pipe, our recommendation is to back the hosts in the handicap market.
City in the -2 market is our main tip. Though the hosts to score over 2.5 goals is also a viable option.
Team news
Man City will be without Jeremy Doku, John Stones and Erling Haaland for Sunday’s encounter.
Huddersfield, to add to their troubles, have a full host of injuries. Jonathan Hogg, Danny Ward, Josh Ruffels, Kian Harratt, Patrick Jones and Oliver Turton are out until mid-January.
Chris Maxwell and Matty Pearson are both doubts, while Delano Burgzorg is expected to remain on the sidelines for longer.
Key stats
- Manchester City have never lost an FA Cup match against Huddersfield
- Huddersfield have progressed from just two of their last 17 FA Cup ties against top-flight opposition
- Man City have won their last 11 FA Cup home matches
