Mubama makes senior debut against Salford as one of nine City changes | OneFootball

Divin Mubama makes his senior City debut tonight in the FA Cup third round clash with Salford as one of nine changes by Pep Guardiola.

The 20-year-old, who joined us this summer from West Ham United, has previously been on the bench three times this term without getting on – in December clashes with Manchester United, Everton and Leicester City.

But this evening he goes into the Starting XI against The Ammies at the Etihad.

WHO IS DIVIN MUBAMA | PLAYER PROFILE

Nathan Ake and Savinho are the only players to remain in the team from the home Premier League win against West Ham in our last game.

The remaining nine – Stefan Ortega Moreno, Mateo Kovacic, Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Josko Gvardiol, Manuel Akanji, Phil Foden and Rico Lewis all take their places on the bench for the 17:45 (UK) clash.

John Stones and Rodri both remain injured, Ruben Dias and Oscar Bobb are not fully fit while Kyle Walker is also out.

City are looking for progress through to the fourth round of the FA Cup.

We have won it seven times in our history - in 1904, 1934, 1956, 1969, 2011, 2019 and 2023 – with the Blues lying sixth on the list of most successful clubs in the prestigious domestic cup competition.

WATCH: Watch: Memorable moments in the FA Cup third round

TEAM NEWS

CITY XI: Ederson, Simpson-Pusey, Ake, Nunes, Gundogan (C), O’Reilly, McAtee, Doku, Grealish, Savinho, Mubama

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Kovacic, Haaland, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Gvardiol, Akanji, Foden, Lewis

TACTICS

It looks like it could be a 3-2-4-1 this evening.

Ederson starts in goal and looks set to be protected by a back three of Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Nathan Ake and Matheus Nunes.

Nico O’Reilly and Ilkay Gundogan will aim to dominate the battle ground of midfield.

Further up, Jack Grealish and James McAtee will offer more attacking impetus with Jeremy Doku and Savinho out wide and Divin Mubama looking to do the damage to the Salford backline.

PEP UP FOR THE CUP

Pep Guardiola has won virtually everything in the game.

And triumphing in the FA Cup is right up there in his personal list of achievements.

Guardiola is the only City manager to win the competition twice while Arsene Wenger is the only other non-British coach to win it more than once.

The boss spoke glowingly about lifting the trophy in 2019 and 2023 in his matchday programme notes for this evening’s Etihad clash.

“It is difficult to describe what this competition means to all of us here at Manchester City,” he wrote.

CITY V SALFORD | ORDER YOUR MATCHDAY PROGRAMME

“This club has lifted the trophy seven times, with the first all the way back in 1904! We are proud of our record and believe me, we want to make it eight victories by the end of the season.

“Winning this trophy in 2019 and 2023 were two of the best days I have had as a manager in football. It is an honour to have the chance to do it again.”

Here’s to taking the first step in this season’s competition tonight.

ROBINSON IMPRESSED BY CITY GRIT

City under Pep Guardiola have gained a reputation of playing attractive, attacking football.

But opposite number tonight, Karl Robinson - while a fan of our silky-smooth style - has been more impressed with the effort, energy and endeavour of the sky blue players under the most successful manager in our history.

“When you see Pep’s teams play, people only ever see the good bits,” Robinson told our Matchday Live show ahead of kick-off.

“And I think that’s the secret to when you see that his team and you are on a touchline next to him is the horrible bit of football that they’re brilliant at.

“How they regain the football, how hard they work for each other, at moments when they’re challenged. It almost makes me smile because there’s a grit and a determination to them that you think, that’s why you do this job.”

BERNARDO BOUYANT

There’s no question that City endured a tough run of form and results in the tail end of 2024 before beating Leicester City and West Ham either side of New Year.

Despite this blip in what has otherwise been a faultless era of dominance, Bernardo Silva - a substitute tonight - is positive about the future of the sky blues in 2025 and beyond as we look to make progress in the FA Cup this evening.

“We’re still very motivated to do a lot better than how we ended 2024,” our playmaking midfielder said.

“It’s been a positive year for Manchester City - we won the Premier League, we set the new record of winning four consecutive league titles, so it’s been a very positive year.

“We are very motivated. Personally, I already sense a little difference in the performance levels of the last two or three games from what we showed before.

“We’re confident that we will have Manchester City back to what it should be very soon, which is a team that wins and wins and wins.

“That’s what people have come to expect over the last seven, eight years.”

WATCH: Inside City: Episode 485

MATCH STATS

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

-This is Salford'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).

-City haven’t been eliminated at this stage of the FA Cup since 2011/12, when we lost 3-2 at home to Manchester United. Including replays, we’ve won our last 11 FA Cup third round matches by an aggregate score of 46-4.

-This is Salford'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 in 1951-52 (lost 0-3 to Tottenham).

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