FA Cup fifth round: Sheffield Wednesday v Man City betting preview & free tips

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City in the FA Cup fifth round.

Where to watch

BBC1, 7.45pm Wednesday

Best bet

Man City-Man City double result
2pts 8-11 Coral
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Team news

Sheffield Wednesday
Moses Odubajo, Massimo Luongo and Adam Reach remain injured and Connor Wickham and Josh Windass are cup-tied.

Manchester City
Aymeric Laporte (hamstring) faces a month on the sidelines and changes are likely to be made after Sunday's 2-1 success over Aston Villa at Wembley.

Match preview

Manchester City's insatiable hunger for trophies will not have been remotely satisfied by their 2-1 success over Aston Villa in the League Cup final and they should be ruthless against their Sky Bet Championship hosts Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup fifth round.

Pep Guardiola's side look a solid bet to be leading at half-time and full-time against the Owls, who should be short of confidence after winning only one of their last eight matches and will be depleted by the absences of cup-tied loanees Connor Wickham and Josh Windass.

The Citizens have had their problems against lower-league opposition in recent FA Cup campaigns.

They famously lost 1-0 away to Wigan, then a League One side, in a fifth-round tie in February 2018 and they had to come from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Swansea in last season's quarter-final.

However, City are approaching this encounter full of confidence and Guardiola has the option of recalling four top-class players - Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus - who were left out of the League Cup final starting line-up.

It is quite possible that Wednesday will face a stronger side than Villa were up against on Sunday and they may struggle to keep the score respectable.

City have not scored more than two goals in any of their last six games but a big victory could be just around the corner.

They were superb in claiming a well-deserved 2-1 victory away to Real Madrid last Wednesday and should have been out of sight against Villa before having to withstand a late flurry from the Midlands side.

Villa put in a huge effort simply to stay in the game and their endeavour is unlikely to be matched by Wednesday, who are having a tough time.

Garry Monk's side have been defeated in five of their last seven home matches, including desperately disappointing losses to Blackburn (5-0) and Reading (3-0).

Their playoff push has ground to a halt and the rest of the season will be about trying to regain the trust of their supporters, who are fast running out of patience.

Injuries have not helped, with first-team regulars Moses Odubajo, Massimo Luongo and Adam Reach missing the last month, but Wednesday boss Garry Monk must take his share of the blame for making regular changes to the team's shape and personnel.

His team looked disjointed and disheartened in the 3-1 loss at home to Derby on Saturday and need to put on much better performance to avoid a hammering against the best attacking side in the country.