ERL READY TO LORD IT AGAIN
Haaland can fire City into cup final
SHEFFIELD UNITED’S unbeaten FA Cup run against Manchester City goes back more than a century but it’s not likely to survive the weekend.
City have failed to beat the Blades in six meetings since 1906 – but their 2-1 defeat 15 years ago was the only time the sides have met in the tournament since 1939.
And although the Championship high-flyers come into today’s Wembley semi-final in fine form, they face a Premier League side that has been rampant in recent weeks.
The gulf between the sides is illustrated by the betting, with Paul Heckingbottom’s men as big as 18-1. Treble-chasing City are 3-20 with Unibet, with the draw available at a big 8-1 with Unibet and bet365.
The Blades have won six of their last seven games, their only defeat a 2-0 defeat at Championship leaders Burnley.
But City easily trump that run, having gone 15 games without defeat in all competitions and having scored three or more goals in ten of those.
And when you consider that Pep Guardiola’s men put six past Burnley in the quarter-finals, then the omens are not good for the Sheffield men.
Even though City have lost four of their last five outings to Wembley, you just can’t bet against them here.
There’s no value in backing them to win in 90 minutes, so looking at the goal markets is the best option.
They’re evens to overcome a twogoal handicap with Sky Bet, but a more attractive 5-2 to win by four goals or more and I’d be tempted to take that one. If you fancy them to win by five, then you can have 11-2.
With Heckingbottom sure to have his men fired up for their big capital day out, I don’t think City will achieve a repeat of their Burnley scoreline so I’d take the 17-2 from William Hill that they triumph 4-0.
If you’d rather play a little safer, then take Sky Bet’s 6-4 that City score four or more goals.
Erling Haaland has had a remarkable season and the Blades defenders will have to be switched on for 90 minutes to stop him running riot.
He simply cannot be ignored in the goalscoring stakes and I reckon there’s every chance he will celebrate his 50 for the season here by bagging a double.
Sky Bet offer an enhanced 11-2 that he gets a hat-trick here but I’d prefer to take their 11-8 that he nets twice. He’s also 13-8 to net the first goal.
It’s worth also keeping an eye on City’s Jack Grealish, whose most recent goals have come when City scored four.
Grealish is 13-8 to net at any time but it may be worth taking Sky Bet’s 6-1 that he grabs the last goal.
Finally, I’d grab the 4-1 on Sky Bet’s Requestabet that each team wins at least one corner in each half and each side gets at least one yellow card in the 90 minutes.
Tomorrow’s second semi-final between Brighton and Manchester United should be a closer affair so I fancy the draw here at 5-2 – while Erik ten Hag’s men could win it in extra-time at tempting odds of 10-1.