City make five changes for Newcastle FA Cup quarter-final clash | OneFootball

City make five changes for this evening’s FA Cup quarter-final clash at home to Newcastle United.

Goalkeeper Stefan Ortega Moreno, defenders Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol, along with midfielder Mateo Kovacic and winger Jeremy Doku all come into Pep Guardiola’s starting line-up.

From the side that began last weekend’s 1-1 Premier League draw at Liverpool, Ederson (muscle injury) and Kevin De Bruyne (groin issue) are both ruled out through injury.

Meanwhile John Stones, Nathan Ake and Julian Alvarez all revert to the bench.

Jack Grealish, who has been sidelined for the past two and half weeks with a groin problem, returns to the matchday squad and is also named amongst the substitutes.

Teams

CITY XI: Ortega Moreno, Walker (C), Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Rodrigo, Kovacic, Bernardo, Foden, Doku, Haaland

Subs: Carson, Stones, Ake, Grealish, Alvarez, Gomez, Nunes, Bobb, Lewis

NEWCASTLE: To follow

Subs: To follow

Tactics

Ortega Moreno will reprise his position in goal having come on for Ederson and excelled in last Sunday’s eventful draw at Anfield.

The German keeper will be shielded by a back four of skipper Kyle Walker, Manuel Akanji, Dias and Gvardiol.

Rodrigo will again be the holding anchor in midfield with Kovacic and Bernardo also set to be deployed in the engine room.

Upfront, Erling Haaland will again be City's focal point in attack with Phil Foden and Doku also set to support the Norwegian further forward.

Though, of course, such is City’s tactical flexibility and fluidity those positions and set-up could well alter as the game goes on!

WATCH: Stat Attack: City's FA Cup quarter-final record

Looks familiar

This will be the fourth occasion that City and Magpies have locked horns with each other this season.

We first met last August in a tightly contested Premier League encounter at the Etihad with City emerging victorious 1-0 thanks to a Julian Alvarez strike.

The two then came up against each other again in September in a Carabao Cup third round tie staged at St James’ Park. That proved another hard-fought affair with Eddie Howe’s side emerging victorious 1-0.

The return Premier League fixture in the North East, held in January, proved to be an absolute classic. City staged a stirring fightback from 2-1 down to claim a memorable 3-2 triumph thanks to Oscar Bobb’s dramatic injury time winner.

Now we come face to face once again with a place in the semi-finals at Wembley next month the prize for the victors.

Let’s hope the two sides serve up another match to remember.

Six appeal?

City could create another small slice of notable history should we emerge victorious this evening.

Under Pep Guardiola of course, City have established a formidable record in the FA Cup over recent seasons, having  won the famous trophy last season and reached at least the semi-final stage for the past five seasons.

WATCH: Every game we try to maximise set pieces, says Guardiola

Should we progress through to the last four once again, it would mean City would become the first side in history to reach six consecutive FA Cup semi-finals.

No lack of incentive then for Pep’s troops tonight!

Key stats

●    This is the first FA Cup meeting between City and Newcastle since the 2019-20 quarter-final, with the Citizens winning 2-0 at St James’ Park.●    Newcastle have lost 15 of their last 16 away games against City in all competitions, including the last nine in a row. The exception was a 2-0 League Cup victory in October 2014.●    City have progressed from our last six FA Cup quarter-final ties, since losing to Wigan in 2013-14. They’ve won at this stage in each of the last five seasons and could become the first team in FA Cup history to reach the semi-finals in six consecutive campaigns.●    Newcastle are looking to reach the FA Cup semi-final for the first time since 2004-05, going out at this stage of the competition twice since then (2005-06 and 2019-20).●    City were eliminated by Newcastle from this season’s League Cup – the last team to knock the Blues out of both domestic cup competitions in the same campaign were Tottenham Hotspur in 1992-93.●    Since the start of last season, only Paul Mullin (9) has scored more goals in the FA Cup proper than City’s Erling Haaland (8). Haaland’s eight goals have been scored in just two different games, netting a hat-trick against Burnley in last season’s quarter-final, and a five-goal haul against Luton in the last round this year.

●    After scoring four goals in his first five FA Cup appearances for Newcastle, Miguel Almirón has now failed to find the net in each of his last six in the competition. He has, however, provided an assist for the Magpies in each of his last two games.