Manchester City vs Salford City (FA Cup Third Round): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How To Watch | OneFootball

The FA Cup returns to Manchester City’s fixture list for another season as League Two high-flyers Salford City visit the Etihad Stadium in the third round of the competition.

Pep Guardiola and his players will be looking to make it three wins in a row across competitions for the first time since October, having recorded back-to-back wins in the Premier League to give fans hope of a second-half resurgence this season.

Much of that new-found success can be put down to Brazilian winger Savinho, and his combination play created with Erling Haaland to revive Manchester City’s attacking play and bring about much-needed goals to kill-off matches.

Last time out was three points in Premier League action, as the reigning champions dismissed of West Ham via an ultimately comfortable 4-1 scoreline after a difficult opening exchange between the two clubs in the first-half.

Savinho would force the opener via a deflected effort that was credited as an own goal, before an Erling Haaland brace was added to by Phil Foden in the final moments, only for Niclas Fullkrug to deny the hosts a clean sheet.

As for this weekend’s opponents, Salford City come into the match off the back of six wins in a row to leave them in third position in the League Two table and dreaming of automatic promotion into England’s third tier.

Ahead of Manchester City’s return to FA Cup action at the third round stage this weekend, here is everything you need to know ahead of the encounter at the Etihad Stadium!

Match Details

Manchester City welcome Salford City to the Etihad Stadium for a meeting in the third round of the FA Cup scheduled for 17:45 (UK) on Saturday evening.

Match Officials

The Football Association have confirmed that Josh Smith has been appointed as match referee for the clash between Manchester City and Salford City in the FA Cup this weekend.

As confirmed in an earlier statement from the FA prior to this weekend’s games, Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will not be in operation until later in the competition to ensure consistency in officiating standards across matches.

You can find the full list of appointed officials below!

Team News

Pep Guardiola delivered a significant update on the status of his squad and its fitness and injury picture during his pre-match press conference, in which the Manchester City confirmed the return of Ederson to full availability.

Ruben Dias is also moving towards a return to action following a muscular injury sustained in last month’s Manchester derby defeat, undertaking individual on-field training at the City Football Academy in the last few days.

As for the Portuguese defender’s central defensive teammate, John Stones remains ruled out with his own reoccurring injury problems and there is no time frame or notable update on his recovery processes.

Rodri and Oscar Bobb remain sidelined, although the latter has taken a significant step forward towards a full return by rejoining first-team operations in training with Pep Guardiola’s squad.

Head To Head

This weekend will be the first-ever meeting between Manchester City and Salford City in any competition.

Statistics

This is the first ever meeting between Manchester City and Salford City – the Citizens have won their last 17 matches when facing an opponent for the first time (all competitions), since a 2-1 loss to Olympique Lyonnais in September 2018.

This is Salford City’s third meeting with Premier League opposition in all competitions, previously losing 3-0 against Everton (September 2020) and 4-0 against Burnley (September 2023).

Manchester City have not been eliminated at this stage of the FA Cup since 2011/12, when they lost 3-2 at home to Manchester United. Including replays, City have won their last 11 FA Cup third round matches by an aggregate score of 46-4.

This is Salford City’s first ever appearance in the FA Cup third round. The last team whose first such game came against the reigning English top-flight champions was Scunthorpe United in 1951/52 (lost 0-3 to Tottenham).

Since losing 1-0 to Wigan in the FA Cup fifth round in 2017/18, Manchester City have won their last 24 matches against sides from a lower division (across both League Cup and FA Cup) by an aggregate score of 88-12.

How To Watch

For those in the United Kingdom, the match between the Premier League champions and League Two high-flyers will br broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with live radio broadcast on BBC Radio Manchester.

For those in the United States, the match between Manchester City and Salford City will be available for broadcast live on ESPN+.

You can find full global TV listings for the FA Cup third round tie HERE!

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on our X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram channels throughout matchday, with content also provided on cityxtra.co.uk and YouTube!