Luton vs Manchester City prediction: ENGLAND: FA Cup betting tips on match 2024-02-26 20:00.
After being “suffocated” by Liverpool in a 4-1 defeat according to Luton boss Rob Edwards, he must get his men up for what promises to be at the least an equally tough task against the Premier League champions and FA Cup holders Manchester City. This is the first time the Hatters have drawn City in an FA Cup tie since 1969, when the Citizens ran out 1-0 winners, a scoreline that would earn Luton plaudits this time around given the gulf in quality.
Luton have already dispatched Premier League opposition in the form of fellow relegation battlers Everton to make only their third fifth round appearance since 1993/94. The Hatters were dumped out at this stage by Chelsea as recently as 2020/21, although that game will live long in the memory as they took the lead twice as a Championship side before falling 3-2 in a valiantly fought effort.
A return of just one point for Luton in league action against the current top-four (D1, L4) should only spur City on in their quest to retain the FA Cup, as will their ongoing nine-game unbeaten H2H streak against the Hatters (W5, D4). Anything short of a continuation of that trend would be a huge shock, not least because Manchester City have made it to at least the FA Cup quarter-final in six of their last seven campaigns.
The only failure to progress beyond that stage during that time was a 1-0 defeat to a League One Wigan side, but their 100% winning record against Premier League outfits currently sat in the bottom-four suggests that Pep Guardiola’s men should come through this unscathed (W7). Backing up that expectation further is City’s impressive ongoing eight-game winning run in this competition, which incredibly came alongside seven clean sheets!
Players to watch: Chiedozie Ogbene gave Luton a half-time lead at Anfield in their latest outing before being beaten, a curiously similar match flow to their home league H2H against City in which they led at the interval and went onto lose. As for the visitors, Phil Foden has scored two of their six unanswered goals in this year’s FA Cup and heads into this in fine form having scored a first-half winner against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Hot stat: Just one of Luton’s last 14 competitive matches produced a goalless first half.