- Mo Nasereldin
Everything you need to know, Predicted XI – Bristol City vs Manchester City Preview
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City come to the end of five consecutive away matches with Tuesday night's FA Cup fifth-round clash against Championship side Bristol City. The game is to be played at 8:00 pm (GMT), live on ITV1 in the United Kingdom.
Team News
Kevin De Bruyne was fit enough to appear on the bench vs Bournemouth after suffering from illness. Guardiola spoke on the fitness of De Bruyne ahead of the visit to Ashton Gate, saying; he is better' but 'still a little illness'.
Aymeric Laporte and John Stones' match fitness statuses are still in doubt, and neither are expected to play a leading role against Bristol City. Still, the latter has been pictured in training with his teammates following his hamstring injury lay-off, so he could feature on the Blues' bench.
City head into the fixture five games unbeaten, looking to continue the form they showed against Bournemouth where, despite not playing up to peak City standards, they dominated the contest and looked comfortable throughout the game.
On City's current performance levels, Guardiola expressed his satisfaction in his pre-match press conference:
"Exceptional. Well, after Nottingham, we were not consistent but we are consistent because we won one game. Our game is good, the results could be better in terms of winning against Spurs and Nottingham, but it is football, sometimes that happens."
The Catalan went on to clarify his statement about the team playing 'exceptional':
"Of course, not exceptional; it's ok, it is good. No complaints for the way we are playing and fighting."
Predicted XI:
Ortega, Walker, Akanji, Ake, Gomez, Philips, Bernardo, Foden, Mahrez, Alvarez, Palmer
Opposition
Nigel Pearson's Bristol City side sit 13th in the Championship – however, are on a 12-match unbeaten streak, having beaten Hull City 1-0 on the weekend.
In the fourth round, Bristol City had to overcome a West Brom side, winning 3-0 courtesy of goals from Sam Bell and Alex Scott.
Rob Atkinson, Ayman Benarous, Kal Naismith, Kane Wilson, and Tommy Conway are all out for Tuesday's match.
On the challenge of Bristol City, Guardiola had this to say:
"Last 12 games, no defeats. This means they are there. My scouts said they are a good team, they have a manager with experience and did well at Leicester City. It's a final. FA Cup is an important competition. A serious team will play tomorrow."
Head-to-Head
Played: 25
Won: 9
Drawn: 6
Lost: 10
In their previous meeting, City booked a place in the Carabao Cup after a thrilling 3-2 win over Bristol City in January 2018. Goals from Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero put the Blues firmly in command. Although the Robins fought back to level in the closing stages with two quickfire goals, De Bruyne won the game to secure a 5-3 aggregate victory.
Officials
Referee: Andre Marriner
Assistants: Sam Lewis and Adam Nunn
Fourth Official: James Linington
Written by: @MoNasereldin
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