Peterborough vs. Manchester City Predictions: Masterful Mahrez up for the Cup

Manchester City travel to Peterborough this Tuesday evening in the last 16 of the FA cup.

The current Premier League champions secured their place in the last 16 with a comfortable 4-1 home win vs Fulham. Peterborough on the other hand progressed thanks to a 2-0 win over Queens Park Rangers.

Man City haven’t been at their best in recent weeks and seem to have lacked a real clinical edge, but they will surely have too much for Championship strugglers Peterborough. Pep Guardiola will likely make six or seven changes ahead of this fixture which should see the likes of Jesus, Mahrez and Grealish return to the attack as none of them started their last league game vs Everton. Recent rounds versus Fulham and Swindon for City would suggest another strong team here, as they look to progress to the quarter-finals for the fourth year on the bounce.

Peterborough will be aware of the task that presents itself here, as they face the countries best. Posh are winless in their last six, having lost five of those games against much weaker opposition, they should see it as a free hit in the Cup. City come into this fixture as short as 1/10, with the hosts 20/1 to cause an upset.

Finding value in these one sided cup ties can always be tricky, but I’ve put together this odds-against treble which should go close.

Mahrez is a man bang in form and should return to the starting side here. The tricky Algerian winger has scored five in his last six appearances, including a brace last time out in this competition versus Fulham. Two or more shots should be straight forward if he gets the nod here.

Only one side has managed four or shots on target facing Manchester City in their last eleven games, and that was Tottenham in that crazy 3-2 win. The control City have on these games doesn’t allow the opposition many chances to get forward. Neither Fulham or Swindon managed four shots on target in previous rounds.

Similar to the shots, City's strength in dominating the ball for the majority of the 90 minutes sees them accumulate a low goal kick count against. Adding this in gives us a 23/20 shot for Tuesday evening – City have only had six or more goal kicks once in their last nine Premier league games, so I would expect them to go under facing a struggling Championship side.

Norburn has been carded in both his FA Cup appearances this season and holds a very good card record over his time in the EFL. He’s been booked more than any other Peterborough player this season, and could be in for a long game versus a side the quality of Man City.

Adding to this card play I’m taking Mahrez to make it back to back braces in this competition. 3/1 was a bit short to have as a single but I’ll happily play it as part of our longshot. He’s the top scorer for Man City this season with 18 goals, and limited minutes recently should see him get a good run out against much weaker opposition.

Combining these two plays gives us a 23/1 longshot to follow Tuesday evening. As always, please remember to gamble responsibly.