Sheff Wed v Man City: Three angles to consider at Hillsborough

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY host Manchester City in Wednesday night’s FA Cup 5th Round showdown from Hillsborough. Chris Clark (@ChrisClark1975) shares his verdict.

Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City | Wednesday 4th November 2020, 19:45 | BBC1

Manchester City got their hands on the first silverware of the season at the weekend, and they can take a step towards another Wembley final with a convincing win at Hillsborough on Wednesday night.

Now the league title is out of their grasp, and after the UEFA ban, City will feel they have a point to prove. They obviously haven’t, but a team with a point to prove is a hard side to beat.

Pep Guardiola’s men will obviously face harder tasks than Garry Monk’s Owls, but they will still want to put on a convincing performance. Which you, I and the bookies will think they will do. Our task is to try and find some value out there.

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If we take a look at the City team which started at Wembley on Sunday in the attacking positions, there was no place for Gabriel Jesus or Riyadh Mahrez. Mahrez in the Premier League in his 22 appearances has had 23 shots on target.

You’d fancy Mahrez to start and against the weaker opposition, who allow 9.4 shots on their goal per Championship game. Mahrez could well be testing the Wednesday keeper, if he’s starting on the left or the right. Let’s not underestimate Mahrez, who is a terrific player and will be far too good for this Wednesday defence.

Sheffield Wednesday are in terrible form, and in their last six matches, their only win was a 1-0 win against Charlton, and that was an injury time winner. In fact Garry Monk had made three changes by 46 minutes on Saturday. Monk is increasingly becoming a manager under pressure, but you would imagine he has a free pass for this game.

Something worth looking into with Wednesday is their matches contain a number of late goals, either for Wednesday or the opposition. If breaking down the match in 10 minute chunks, Wednesday have scored their highest percentage of goals (24%) and also conceded the most (27th) in the 81-90minute period.

With tiring legs from chasing Man City round the pitch, they could be ripe for conceding a goal in that time period. Alternatively City might be lax with the game in the bag – it’s certainly an angle worth looking at.

If you wanted a bit of fun, as this game is hard to find value for us punters. Having watched Kyle Walker for a number of years, he is a hot-head and can get easily riled. He’s a Sheffield United man going into the lions den of Hillsborough. He will be up against either the pacy Kadeem Harris or the tricky Adam Reach.

Walker is 13/2 to get booked with Bet365. Walker does have four yellow cards this season, and in his 21 appearances in the league has conceded 22 fouls.

Best Bets

Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City – Riyadh Mahrez to have 2+shots on target (10/11 SkyBet)

Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City – Time of Last Goal: 76-90min (31/40 Betway)

Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City – Kyle Walker to be carded (13/2 Bet365)