FA Cup semi-final preview: Favourites Manchester City expected to ease through

The FA Cup resumes this weekend as the final four take to Wembley with Manchester City facing Championship side Sheffield United and Manchester United taking on Brighton.

We preview both fixtures below.

Manchester City v Sheffield United, Saturday 16:45

This tie sees arguably the best team in the world at the moment taking on a Championship side in Sheffield United, who will be happy with the fact that they have made it to Wembley.

With City clear favourites to win the competition at 8/15, it looks unlikely that the 33/1 outsiders will be taking another step towards the trophy on Saturday.

Having faced both Arsenal and Chelsea en route to the semi-finals, Manchester City are still yet to concede in this season’s competition. They look set to continue their pursuit of the trophy and at 1/16 are the clear favourites to win the tie.

Sheffield United sit second in the Championship, and Man City’s 6-0 win over already-promoted  Burnley will certainly not fill the Blades fans with hope, with their side an unlikely 18/1 to win the match in 90 minutes and 7/1 to progress to the final.

With 14 goals in just four matches in the competition so far, City are averaging 3.5 goals per game and at 19/20 are still favourites to win the match with a -2 handicap.

Erling Haaland has scored three goals in the competition despite only making two appearances and at 1/4, we’re backing the Norwegian goal machine to find the back of the net again this weekend.

If Sheffield United are to find any joy in this tie it is likely to come from Iliman Ndiaye, the Blades’ standout player this season. The Senegalese international has managed 14 goals and nine assists in all competitions for the Blades this season and at 9/2 seems the most likely to score what would be a very memorable goal for Sheffield United.

Brighton v Manchester United, Sunday 16:30

This matchup promises to be a much closer call than many would have expected at the start of the season, with Brighton flying high in the league and finding themselves in the battle for European places along with their opponents on Sunday.

The Seagulls are still chasing their first ever FA Cup triumph, coming closest in 1983 where the lost the final in a replay to Manchester United. This is arguably their best chance to date to reach the final as they find themselves 8/11 favourites to reach the final.

Brighton ran out 2-1 winners when the sides met earlier in the season and are 9/1 to repeat that scoreline on Sunday.

In what has proven to be a breakout season, Japanese star Kaoru Mitoma has already scored once in the FA cup this season and at 11/4 we’re backing him to find the back of the net for Brighton.

Manchester United bring a wealth of history to this tie having won the competition 12 times, but at 7/2 the Red Devils sit behind local rivals Man City in the odds to lift the trophy.

With recent head-to-head form against them United are the 17/10 underdogs to win the match in 90 minutes and Evens to win the tie.

England’s Marcus Rashford has been the brightest spark at United this season and he looks set to keep increasing his goal tally for the season at 7/4 to score anytime and 9/2 to make an instant impact and score the first goal.

With both teams possessing great attacking talent, previous matches have seen 2-1 and 4-0 scorelines making over 3.5 goals at 13/8 an intriguing punt.

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