Manchester City vs Plymouth – Betting Preview
The FA Cup fifth round is right around the corner and one of the most intriguing ties of the round is Premier League champions Manchester City locking horns with Plymouth Argyle in what has the potential to be yet another famous giant killing.
Throughout the entire history of the FA Cup, one of the big stories has always been the unpredictability of the competition. On any given day, someone can rise up from seemingly nothing and knock out one of the big clubs. Because of how much it’s talked about these days, a lot of folks seem to believe it happens all the time – but it doesn’t.
In the last round, Plymouth Argyle proved why they shouldn’t be taken lightly in any game in the FA Cup this season. They went toe to toe with the almighty Liverpool and against all odds, they were able to knock them out. They earned the right to reach this point and their reward, or punishment depending on how you look at it, is a date with Manchester City.
The good news for Argyle is that this is far from City’s best season. In fact, you could argue that it’s the worst they’ve had in recent memory. At this point, the only trophy they can hope to win is the FA Cup, which you could argue makes them even more dangerous.
With that being said, Leyton Orient gave them a bloody nose in the last round and they’re even further down the pyramid than Plymouth are. Believe us when we say this: writing off the underdogs here could prove to be a big, big mistake.
For those of you out there who love sports betting, this is for you. Even if it’s just a case of figuring out whether or not Argyle are going to get on the scoresheet, there’s a lot to enjoy here. Both of these teams know that this is now the highlight of their campaign, for better or worse, and while it won’t be a full strength team for City, you can bet Pep Guardiola isn’t going to treat Plymouth as a guaranteed win – which you could argue Liverpool did just a matter of weeks ago.
In terms of how we think this one will play out, we’re actually going to say that the visitors are going to score first. They’ll be right up for it and if they just throw everything they’ve got at City early doors and make it physical, they could really start to make their many travelling fans believe that they can do it all over again.
Alas, that’s perhaps when reality will begin to set in. City will start to break them down with slick play and liquid passing in the final third, and from there, it’ll be curtains. Still, there’s going to be some drama in this one, even if our official prediction below says that the scoreline is going to be a little bit more flattering for the hosts than they perhaps deserve.
Official prediction: Manchester City 4-1 Plymouth Argyle
