Wednesday make four changes to the team swatted aside by Derby at Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon. Joe Wildsmith, Joel Pelupessy, Dominic Iorfa and Alessio Da Cruz replace Cameron Dawson, Tom Lees, Kadeem Harris and Steven Fletcher, all of whom drop to the bench.
City make six changes to their victorious League Cup final starting XI. Kyle Walker, Fernandinho, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling make way for Cancelo, Benjamin Mendy, Nicolas Otamendi, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus. Kevin De Bruyne enjoys a good rest.
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The teams
Sheffield Wednesday: Wildsmith, Palmer, Iorfa, Borner, Fox, Pelupessy, Murphy, Lee, Bannan, Da Cruz, Forestieri.
Subs: Harris, Fletcher, Lees, Nuhiu, Dawson, Hunt, Urhoghide.
Manchester City: Bravo, Joao Cancelo, Stones, Otamendi, Mendy, Bernardo, Rodri, Silva, Mahrez, Aguero, Jesus.
Subs: Sterling, Gundogan, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Ederson, Foden, Garcia.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
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Preamble
Sheffield Wednesday haven’t won the FA Cup since 1935, when two late goals by winger Ellis Rimmer secured a sensational 4-2 victory over West Bromwich Albion. They’ve reached the final twice since then, losing in dramatic circumstances on both occasions. They shipped a two-goal lead against Everton in 1966, Gerry Young miskicking in midfield, John Lennon and Paul McCartney watching on. Then they lost to Andy Linighan’s 119th-minute header in 1993, the ball squirming through the hands of Chris Woods in agonising fashion. Close on both occasions; no cigar.
If they want to hold onto their dream of scratching an 85-year-old itch, they’ll need to knock out the holders tonight. BREAKING NEWS: it’s a tall order. Manchester City have won their last four games in glorious fashion: a breeze past West Ham, a grind against Leicester, a humiliation of Real Madrid, and a League Cup final win over Aston Villa. Their tails are up. The Premier League is probably beyond them … but technically the quadruple is still on, so we can’t rule anything out. If anyone can do it, Pep Guardiola’s great team can.
Wednesday by contrast are stuttering badly. Once in the Championship play-off picture, they’ve only emerged victorious from one of their last eight games, turning themselves into a mid-table irrelevance in the space of a month. They’ve recently been beaten at home 3-0 by Reading, and 5-0 by Blackburn. On Saturday, they were three goals down against Derby by the half hour. It’s a struggle for Garry Monk and his men right now, and it’s the reason they’re 12-1 with the bookies tonight.
If that’s not enough, consider this: City have won six of their last seven matches against Wednesday, a sequence that includes a 4-0, a 7-0 and a 6-2 at Hillsborough. Guardiola has also been picking strong teams in the cups, so there’s unlikely to be too much let-up tonight. But football is football, and the FA Cup is the FA Cup. So there’s always hope. Wigan Athletic – who shocked City in this round two years ago – can attest to that. Here’s to a good old-fashioned cup tie, then, David hosting Goliath. It’s on!
Kick off: 7.45pm GMT.