Middlesbrough v Manchester City Betting Preview – FA Cup 11th March 12.15pm
Manchester City will be happy enough with this tie as they are odds-on favourites to win through to the semi finals of the FA Cup. They were held to a 1-1 draw at the Etihad by Boro in the Premier League this season, but the Citizens have put together a good stretch of form at the moment and Pep Guardiola’s men are likely going to have the firepower to outscore the lightweight attack that Boro bring to the table. This is a big tie for Boro who have been defensively sound enough on home soil this season, but they may likely not have enough goals to trouble the Citizens on the day.
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Middlesbrough v Manchester City FA Cup Betting Tips
Can Boro pull of an upset in this FA Cup quarter final, even though they are on home soil? They are not running in winning form as they have claimed only the one victory in their last six matches played across all competitions. Their last three wins in any tournament have all been in the FA Cup, so it has offered them some respite from a slumping Premier League campaign. They took home wins over Sheffield Wednesday and Accrington before moving past League One side Oxford in the last round. So aside from a tricky Third Round clash it has been a comfortable campaign for Boro and they have two clean sheets from three FA Cup games. If they are going to get through this it will only be in a game of low scoring and under 2.5 goals at Bet365 is a price of 8/11. There is a trend there as each of the last five between them have gone under the goal line. There was a 1-1 between them in the Premier League at the Etihad earlier in the season.
Middlesbrough did win the last FA Cup clash between the two sides which was back in the 2014/15 season at the Etihad. The last time they met at the Riverside in the FA Cup was in the 2009/10 season and City won that 1-0 in a third round clash. A Manchester City 1-0 correct score at Bet365 is trading at a price of 11/2 and that could well have some good appeal for punters. Defensively Boro aren’t a bad side really but they have taken just the one clean sheet in their last six games in all competitions. They aren’t a major threat going forward by any stretch of the imagination and Alvaro Negredo is a 13/5 anytime goalscorer option for the game, with Rudy Gestede at 7/2. Boro’s home form reads W4 D3 L1 in their last eight at the Riverside which isn’t bad at all and there have been five clean sheets for them.
Manchester City are favourites for this one out on the road and their form lately has improved drastically. Defensively they have tightened up a lot and Manchester City to win to nil at Bet365 is a tempting price of 6/5. The Citizens path to the FA Cup has been pretty exciting. They opened with a 5-0 win at West Ham and then took a comfortable 3-0 win at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace. They then went to Championship side Huddersfield in the last round and played out a 0-0 draw before easing through 5-1 in the replay. Manchester City have posted a W4 D1 record out on the road in their last five games away from home in all competitions. That’s five clean sheets on the bounce for them away from the Etihad as well. In the anytime goalscorer market Sergio Aguero is 4/6 favourite with Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne around the 7/4 mark to net. They will probably have the superior firepower at the end of the day to sneak their way past a tough Boro defense.
Middlesbrough v Manchester City FA Cup Betting Odds
Middlesbrough 9/1, Draw 3/1, Man City 5/11
Middlesbrough v Manchester City FA Cup Predictions
The Citizens have looked a better outfit lately and they are good enough to go to the Riverside and find a way through Boro’s organised defence. City have scoring power and threats in them and they should be good value around the 2-0 correct score mark. Nothing wrong with having a punt on them to win nil against the lacklustre threat that Boro pose going forward and the Citizens have been collecting clean sheets lately to warrant a punt on that.
