Peterborough v Manchester City predictions: Slick City to advance with ease

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Peterborough United v Manchester City in the FA Cup fifth round on Tuesday.

Where to watch

ITV, 7.15pm Tuesday

Best bet

Man City win to nil
2pts 7-10 Coral

Team news

Peterborough
Mark Beevers hopes to feature but Nathan Thompson, Jack Taylor and Dan Butler are injured. Callum Morton is cup-tied.

Manchester City
No fresh injuries are reported but Pep Guardiola could look to rotate.

Match preview

Peterborough responded to a backlash from fans by cutting ticket prices for their FA Cup fifth-round tie at home to Manchester City, but it could still be a tough watch for Posh fans, who are likely to witness a heavy defeat at the hands of Pep Guardiola's side.

The tie pits the Premier League leaders against the Championship's basement boys, who have struggled defensively all season, shipping an average of exactly two goals per league game.

That average is likely to be exceeded against the Citizens, who continued their quest for a trophy treble when Phil Foden's 82nd-minute goal sealed a 1-0 success at Everton on Saturday.

The Champions League and the Premier League are Guardiola's top priorities, but he never takes domestic cup matches lightly and selected strong sides for the FA Cup third-round trip to Swindon and the fourth-round clash at home to Fulham, which both finished 4-1 in City's favour.

The perfectionist in Pep would have been irritated by the failure to keep clean sheets in those games but a shutout looks a strong possibility against Peterborough, who will have their hands full trying to keep the scoreline respectable.

Posh advanced to the fifth round with home wins over Bristol Rovers and QPR but those are their only victories in 2022.

Poor league results led to a change of manager with Darren Ferguson resigning from his third spell in the Peterborough hotseat and Grant McCann arriving for his second crack at the Posh post.

McCann looks a sensible choice considering the excellent work done at Hull over the last 18 months but it will take time to turn the club's fortunes around.

Facing City could be described as a free hit given ultra-low expectations, and McCann can only hope that his players rise to the challenge and City fall below their usual standards.

There have been a couple of examples of City struggling in FA Cup ties against EFL opposition.

They famously lost 1-0 at League One Wigan in February 2018, and had to come from 1-0 down in last season's 3-1 success at League Two Cheltenham.

However, both Wigan and Cheltenham were confident teams who went on to win their leagues in those campaigns - contrasting sharply with Peterborough are likely to be in a very different frame of mind after Saturday's 3-0 loss at home to Hull which leaves them eight points adrift of second tier safety.

When winning promotion last season Peterborough had a reputation as a fearless, free-scoring side, but those characteristics have evaporated and it is hard to see them making waves against the Premier League champions.

Key stat

Peterborough have failed to score in five of their last six games

Inside info

Peterborough

Penalty taker Jonson Clarke-Harris
Free-kick wizard Sammie Szmodics
Set-piece aerial threat Frankie Kent
Card magnet Oliver Norburn

Manchester City

Penalty taker Raheem Sterling/Riyad Mahrez
Free-kick wizardKevin De Bruyne
Set-piece aerial threatJohn Stones
Card magnetFernandinho

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