Since February of 2018, when Manchester City lost to Wigan, the Citizens have won seven straight in the FA Cup, rolling up an aggregate score of 30-4 in that perfect run of form. City will host Fulham in the FA Cup 4th round on Sunday, and then the following Wednesday, host intra-city rival United in the EFL Cup semifinal.
It’s City’s home leg of the Manchester Derby semifinal tie, and they’ll bring a 3-1 lead into the meeting from the road leg. City boss Pep Guardiola gave a very straight-forward answer about overwork and fixture congestion that can sometimes ensure from advancing through various competitions.
“The Carabao and FA Cup will be played, maybe we could cancel the replays, maybe there could be less games in the Championship for example, less teams in the Championship or the Premier League,” Guardiola said.
“I come here, you ask me a question and I was honest but I don’t think [about] what they have to do because it’s not my business. My business is to prepare my team day-by-day. When they decide these games, we do it.”
Manchester City Starting XI Prediction vs Fulham FC (FA Cup 4th Round)
B. Silva Jesus Mahrez
Gundogan Foden Rodri
Walker Garcia Fernandinho Zinchenko
Bravo
Manchester City vs Fulham FC FYIs
Kickoff: City of Manchester Stadium, Jan 26, 1pm
Team news for both sides: go to this link
Head to Head: City are undefeated in 14 matches against Fulham (W11, D3)
Key stat/fact: City have won the past eight meetings in all competitions, by an aggregate score of 23-3.
Prediction: Manchester City 4, Fulham 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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