The fifth round of the FA Cup serves up three all-Premier League clashes, one of which sees Luton Town host defending champions Manchester City at Kenilworth Road on Wednesday evening.
Relegation-threatened Luton trail title-chasing Man City by 39 points in the Premier League table, with Pep Guardiola’s men beating the Hatters 2-1 in December.
This is the first FA Cup meeting between these two clubs since 1969, with the Cityzens winning 1-0 on that occasion. What will happen this time around?
Sunday grind! 🫡 pic.twitter.com/LjoLVla8sv— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 25, 2024
Sunday grind! 🫡 pic.twitter.com/LjoLVla8sv
Luton head into Wednesday’s showdown on the back of a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool, who racked up a whopping 29 shots at Anfield last time out.
Rob Edwards’ side have now lost each of their previous three matches, with defeats against Sheffield United and Manchester United preceding last week’s loss.
In the FA Cup, the Hatters were forced to a replay by Bolton Wanderers in the third round before defeating relegation rivals 2-1 in the previous round.
Having avoided defeat in six of their last seven FA Cup matches, Luton will be hopeful of upsetting the odds against the reigning champions at Kenilworth Road.
As for Manchester City, they claimed a 1-0 victory over Bournemouth on Saturday, with Phil Foden scoring the only goal of the game on the south coast.
Guardiola’s men have now avoided defeat in each of their last 17 games across all competitions, winning 13 of their previous 14 encounters.
The defending champions started their FA Cup journey with a 5-0 thrashing of Huddersfield Town before beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 to book their place in the last 16.
As a result, Man City have won each of their last eight FA Cup outings, and they will be confident of extending their winning streak on Wednesday.
Head-to-head: Trends show that Luton’s last victory over Man City came back in 1988. Since then, City have recorded five wins and four draws.
Given that seven of the previous 10 meetings have produced over 2.5 goals, the Kenilworth Road crowd should be treated to a high-scoring affair this time around.
Team news: Luton have Mads Andersen, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Jacob Brown, Elijah Adebayo, Marvelous Nakamba and Thomas Lockyer on the sidelines.
By contrast, Man City’s sole injury absentee is Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol, who looks set to miss the next few games due to ankle ligament damage.
Although the Hatters gave Guardiola’s men a run for their money in December, the reigning champions are expected to flex their muscles and reach the quarter-finals.
Forebet’s AI algorithm predicts that Manchester City will score over 2.5 goals and keep a clean sheet on their way to dispatching Luton Town.