Manchester City vs Plymouth Argyle (FA Cup fifth round): Match Preview, Team News, Stats, Head to Head, How to Watch | OneFootball

The Premier League champions return to action at the Etihad against Championship side Plymouth Argyle as they look to continue their FA Cup journey towards a third successive final.

In midweek, Manchester City were resilient and won a hard-fought three points away in North London, narrowly beating Tottenham as they came away 0-1 victors thanks to a goal from Erling Haaland in the 12th minute.

Wednesday night was very much a game of two halves with City dominating the first 45, playing with great intensity and creating a plethora of chances, but failing to convert and leaving the score 0-1 at half-time, somewhat flattering Tottenham Hotspur.

The second half held a very different complexion, with City having to soak up pressure and remain organised and compact defensively as Spurs continued to create chances and force City to defend deep.

Although the home side had many great opportunities to equalise, they failed to beat Manchester City’s number 31 in Ederson. The champions thought they sealed all three points through Erling Haaland late on, but the goal was controversially disallowed for handball.

This decision ended up being purely trivial, however, as the Blues remained defensively resolute and saw out the 0-1 victory, returning to Manchester with an important three points and a huge moral boost from their win on the road.

Manchester City’s opponents this weekend have pulled off two dramatic cup upsets, defeating Brentford and Liverpool 0-1 and 1-0 to set up an intriguing clash at the Etihad. Since the Liverpool fixture, Argyle have only lost one game, winning one and drawing the other two.

The Premier League Champions will look to put a stop to Plymouth’s magical cup run as they desperately try to revitalise hope of winning domestic silverware this season and rescue a difficult season. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the weekend’s contest!

Match Details

Manchester City will face Plymouth Argyle in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Saturday evening, with kick-off at the Etihad Stadium scheduled for 17:45 GMT.

Match Officials

The Football Association has confirmed that Craig Pawson will oversee Manchester City’s clash with Plymouth Argyle in Manchester this Saturday.

Check out the full list of match officials below!

Team News

Central defender injury woes continue with John Stones confirmed to be out for between eight and 10 weeks by manager Pep Guardiola. However, the Englishman will not require surgery on the thigh problem.

Rodri and Manuel Akanji are also sidelined through longer-term issues.

Although now training regularly and with more intensity, Oscar Bobb is expected to remain ruled out for the fixture this weekend, with the Norwegian still not being back to full fitness following his unfortunate leg fracture before the start of the league campaign.

Guardiola said during his pre-match press conference, “He’s getting better, trained yesterday, and today as well. But he’s been [out] longer than we expect, but hopefully he can finish his part and can help us in the last part of the season.

“We want to help him desperately and of course, it’s a tough period for him. Always there is light at the end of the tunnel, always it has been like that in life, in sport especially.

Erling Haaland is also back to full fitness after fully recovering from a minor knee injury sustained against Newcastle United and playing the full 90 minutes on Wednesday night, with Guardiola confirming his positive fitness on Friday.

Manchester City have also added a new weapon to their arsenal with Argentine youngster Claudio Echeverri finally joining the Champions’ ranks having been originally signed in January 2024 and sent back to River Plate on loan to develop further.

City’s new number 30 joins after a very successful campaign for Argentina Under-20s in the Under-20 South American Championship, captaining his country to a runner-up finish, scoring six goals in nine matches.

Echeverri also contributed one assist during the competition and has since began training with the Manchester City first-team squad, looking to bring a new attacking dynamic for the Blues, and Saturday’s fixture against Plymouth might just give him a slim chance of that opportunity.

For the visitors, three vital starting players are ruled out for the FA Cup clash at the Etihad, with midfielder Brandon Galloway out for the rest of the season following an injury in January, while right-back Joe Edwards and striker Ryan Hardie are also sidelined.

Head to Head

Manchester City and Plymouth Argyle have faced each other 20 times across all competitions. City have won 11 of those matches, Argyle taking seven, and two draws in the process. In these encounters, City have scored 37 goals, while Plymouth Argyle have scored 25.Manchester City have won their last five consecutive matches against Plymouth Argyle across all competitions, with this weekend’s visitors’ last victory over the hosts coming thanks to a 2-1 win back in March 1978.

Their most recent meeting was on February 25, 1989 in a League Division Two match, where Manchester City secured a 2-0 victory at home, while the highest-scoring match between the two teams occurred on November 10, 1987 with City winning 6-2 at home in a cup clash.

Statistics

This is just the second-ever FA Cup meeting between Manchester City and Plymouth Argyle, with the Blues winning a fifth-round tie at Maine Road 3-1 in 1987/88 previously.

Manchester City have won their last 18 FA Cup games against sides from a lower division by an aggregate score of 69-9, since losing 1-0 at Wigan Athletic in the 2017/18 fifth round.

Plymouth Argyle has had 44 previous FA Cup ties against top-flight opponents, progressing from just four of these. However, two of those have come this season, with the Pilgrims seeing off Brentford in the third round and Liverpool in the fourth.

Having beaten Brentford and Liverpool in the third and fourth rounds of the FA Cup this season, Plymouth Argyle is looking to become the first team from outside the top flight to eliminate Premier League opposition in three consecutive rounds since Wigan in 2017/18. The Latics beat Manchester City 1-0 in the fifth round that year.

Plymouth Argyle have lost each of their last five meetings with Manchester City in all competitions, but this is the first match between the sides since February 1989 in the second tier (0-2).

How To Watch

For viewers in the United Kingdom, you can watch the game live from 17:45 GMT on ITV4 or ITVX.

If you are watching from the United States, you can watch the clash live from 12:45 EST on ESPN+.

You can find full global TV listings for the match here!

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