Man City vs Salford Prediction, Lineups and Odds: 7/1 special for this evening's FA Cup fixture

The wait is almost over! In less than an hour, Salford will face the biggest challenge in their history as the League Two side takes on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in an FA Cup tie at the Etihad Stadium.

The match kicks off at 5:45 PM tonight (Saturday, January 11th) and will be broadcast live on BBC One. Tom Winch has previewed the game and shared his top betting tips for this cup clash.

It’s a total mismatch despite City’s troubling campaign. Karl Robinson’s side couldn’t arrive here in better form. The side who are owned by members of the Class of 92, have won six consecutive league matches without conceding a single goal.

Finding an appealing selection can take some doing in an encounter like this. The home side are 1/20, the draw is 19/1, and a shock away win is as large as 50/1 in places. Finding key stats and figures may help us create an angle. Salford have conceded 19 league goals; no side in League Two boasts a better figure. Robinson’s side commit the second most fouls on average and has picked up the third most yellow cards.

City should win this game with relative ease. I’m combining two selections into one, which provides us with an even money play.

Backing under six goals is the first step. It doesn’t take a genius to predict that this encounter isn’t going to see a hefty number of goals. Salford will come here and shut up shop, they’ll be confident that they can keep themselves in the tie for a lengthy period. They haven’t conceded since early December. Pep could rotate a handful of players, but it’ll still be a quality side. Salford are priced at 2.50 to score with one-way traffic expected, although I can't see this turning into a cricket score.

With the home side destined to dominate, this brings us nicely to the second part of the Bet Builder. Manchester City have taken more corners (162) in the Premier League than any other side. Guardiola’s men have racked up 90 corners in 10 matches at the Etihad this term, they’ve hit eight or more on nine occasions. West Ham allowed seven in their meeting last weekend. Salford are allowing 5.42 corners on average in their League Two away days. It’s a decent figure. I’d expect City to finish with at least eight in this clash.

I think our chances in this bet landing are high, given this selection has a 90% success rate.

There is no evidence or figures to backup this selection, but when there is a total mismatch in quality and price, the Own Goal selection becomes interesting.

The underdogs will be camped in their box. City will have Salford pinned, and at times, all 11 men will be behind the ball. That leads to congestion and perhaps miscommunication inside the penalty area. Attacking down the wings will likely be how City approach this match. We saw Savinho’s cross go in off Coufal in City’s win against West Ham on Saturday afternoon. A similar outcome could be likely.

The price appeals. Yes, Salford haven’t scored an own goal this term. This clash is a whole different magnitude. Salford will defend for their lives. One slight flick or a panicked miss kick could deflect the ball into their net.

Man City vs Salford Lineups

The official starting lineups for Man City vs Salford will be displayed in the graphic below.