Man City v Sheffield United FA Cup Semi-Final Tips

With the form that Manchester City are in right now, most punters would back them to beat any team on the planet. That will not deter their Championship rivals Sheffield United, who are eyeing an FA Cup upset.

A place in the final of the lofty competition is on the line as City face the Blades at Wembley, and both teams enter the game sat second in their respective division - the Cityzens are trying to chase down Arsenal, while Sheffield United are looking to secure automatic promotion with Burnley almost mathematically out of reach.

Pep Guardiola’s side has made HA9 a second home in recent years, and Saturday’s game will be their 13th visit to the famous stadium since the start of the 2018/19 season. But, for United, this match will mark their first visit since they last reached the semi-finals of this tournament back in 2014.

Wembley woes

Both teams are in strong form going into this encounter, but fans will be very aware that their two clubs have got a pretty awful record at Wembley Stadium in recent outings.

City, who are 1.16 to win in 90 minutes, have won just one of their last five games at England’s national stadium and lost at this very stage last season after conceding three goals in the first 45 minutes against Liverpool.

To say that the Blades are outsiders would be an understatement (they’re at 12.5 to reach the final) and it’s not solely down to their opponents’ impressive form. Sheffield United have lost all of their last six visits at this venue stretching back to the 1936 FA Cup final.

City slickers

On Wednesday night Bayern Munich became the first team to stop Guardiola’s side from winning since February, but prior to that draw Man City scored 37 goals and conceded just four.

Erling Haaland’s crazy record of 15 goals in his last seven matches mean that he’s priced at 1.39 as an anytime goalscorer. Three of those strikes came in the last round against Burnley, who beat Paul Heckingbottom’s Blades twice in the league this season.

City’s run in the FA Cup this season has seen them score 14 goals without reply, and another win to nil is attractively priced at 1.87. United have scored 12 goals of their own in the competition, though, and no team in the tournament has had more different goalscorers (10).

The head-to-head

It’s the men in blue who have had the most joy in this fixture, with just four losses from their 19 meetings since the Premier League began.

In the FA Cup, though, it’s a different story. These teams have met six times over the years and Sheffield United have never lost. It would be quite the achievement to extend that to seven, and I don’t think it will happen.