Manchester City-Sheffield United is a match in the FA Cup semifinals and is played Saturday at 5:45 pm: lineups, predictions, TV and streaming.
For the third year in a row, Manchester City will play in the Champions League semifinals. Pep Guardiola’s battleship was in no great danger last Wednesday in the return match with Bayern Munich, managing to defend the peremptory 3-0 first leg with which it had already secured qualification. In the penultimate act they will find Real Madrid: a stellar semifinal that is also a rematch of last year’s.
Having sobered up from the cup round passage, the Citizens will take a break from the Premier League this weekend. There is another semifinal to be played, the FA Cup semifinal, with the goal of keeping the dream of the so-called Treble alive. Haaland and his teammates are still in the running in three competitions and have a chance to end the season with as many as three trophies. In the league, meanwhile, it’s wide open again. Manchester City is not missing a beat, and in the last round came their sixth consecutive victory, this time against Leicester, overwhelmed 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium (yes, on the scorer’s sheet was him again, the Norwegian slinger, who is breaking record after record). In two days Guardiola’s men have nibbled four points off leading Arsenal, which has not gone beyond two draws with Liverpool and West Ham. City is -4 but has played one less match than the Gunners. And in seven days it will face them in the eagerly awaited direct clash at Etihad Stadium, a real crossroads in the title fight.
Sheffield is one step closer to promotion
In the FA Cup, the English champions have been on an impressive ride: Chelsea, Arsenal, Bristol City and Burnley beaten by a combined score of 14-0.
Sheffield’s Ndiaye celebrated after a goal
If they were to keep their goal unbeaten again on Saturday they would become the first team since Everton in 1965-66 to reach the final of the most important domestic cup without conceding a goal. The Citizens’ opponent at Wembley is Sheffield United, which surprisingly arrived in the semifinals. The Blades in fact play in the Championship, the English cadet league, and are one step away from promotion to the Premier after two years of purgatory. Paul Heckingbottom’s red-and-whites need only one win to reach their goal: with four days left to play they have a seven-point lead over third-placed Luton. For them, in short, it will still be a party, even if the chances of reaching the final – it would be the first time in over eighty years – are very slim indeed.
The prediction
Sheffield United will not be distracted too much by the championship: the goal is near and the Blades will enjoy this day of celebration, without great expectations. Guardiola will rotate many players, not least because in four days there is a direct clash with Arsenal – who again missed the three points yesterday, drawing against Southampton – and winning it would mean potential overtaking, as the Citizens now have as many as two matches to make up. We hypothesize a City win in a match with at least three total goals.
The likely lineups for Manchester City-Sheffield United
- MANCHESTER CITY (3-2-4-1): Ortega; Stones, Ruben Dias, Laporte; Lewis, Rodri; Mahrez, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland.
- SHEFFIELD UNITED (3-5-2): Foderingham; Ahmedhodzic, Egan, Robinson; Baldock, Berge, Norwood, Fleck, Lowe; McBurnie, Ndiaye.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1