FA Cup – Swindon Town vs Manchester City: Betting Preview

Manchester City begin their quest for the FA Cup away to League Two side Swindon Town in a third-round clash on Friday.

The Premier League leaders will be without manager Pep Guardiola and assistant coach Juanma Lillo. Both men, along with seven first-team players and 12 other staff members, have tested positive for coronavirus. They’re all in isolation as a result.

Rodolfo Borrell, another one of Guardiola’s assistants, will take charge instead. Given the huge number of cases, however, it’s not clear who will be available for Man City. The only guaranteed no-show is Riyad Mahrez, who has departed for AFCON.

Nevertheless, the Citizens remain hot favorites to progress to the next round against a Swindon side that sits fifth in League Two.

Our tip

Facts and figures for Swindon vs Man City in FA Cup.

Current form — Swindon vs Man City

The hosts are performing to expectations

Results have been pretty much up to scratch in recent matches for Swindon, who have performed more or less according to expectations. In the first of their last 3 matches, they lost 2-0 to Barrow. Things improved with a 0-0 draw against Stevenage afterward, before Ben Garner’s side thrashed Northampton Town 5-2 on New Year’s Day.

The Citizens are in excellent form

Manchester City have found a rich vein of form in recent weeks, and aim to keep their winning streak going. In the first of their last 3 matches, they thrashed Leicester 6-3. A 1-0 win over Brentford followed, before Pep Guardiola’s side defeated Arsenal 2-1 on New Year’s Day.

How do the bookies view it?

Just limiting an expected defeat might be the target for Swindon Town here. Siding with Manchester City at odds 1.18 is a no-brainer in the kind of form they are displaying. Should this price be a tad low for your betting strategy, consider adding it to an accumulator.

Swindon vs Man City — fixture history

The last time the two teams faced off against each other, Manchester City came away as 2-0 winners. It was a match played at City of Manchester Stadium back in January 2002 in the FA Cup.

Swindon enter the match against Manchester City with a 0-0-3 record in their previous 3 encounters. This amounts to a 0% winning ratio for the League Two oufit, with the visitors victorious in 100% of the last 3 meetings.

Primary goalscorer

Harry Mckirdy has been the most prolific scorer for the home team recently. Surely, Swindon are relying on him to once again shine in their upcoming match. Meanwhile, Manchester City may turn to Raheem Sterling in the hope that he will add more goals to his tally.