MANCHESTER CITY begin their defence of the FA Cup with what looks like a penalty kick of a tie against Championship relegation strugglers Huddersfield Town.
Pep Guardiola will want to make it double treble winners if he can so you can be sure he will treat the FA Cup with plenty of respect, as he does with every competition.
And it will also be a chance to get some minutes into the legs of all-important Kevin de Bruyne, who made his long-awaited comeback as a sub against Sheffield United after a long absence with a ruptured hamstring.
City lifted the Club World Cup as expected and their next Premier League game is against Newcastle United six days away so there is no need for him to rest anyone really.
Huddersfield's priorities will surely be to retain their Championship place and not drop into the third tier of English football for the first time in 13 years.
Darren Moore's side are just above the relegation zone, but they hardly travel to the Etihad with any kind of encouraging form. They have won just one 7tof their last eight games and were thumped 4-1 at Leicester City in their last game.
How the bookies view this
Manchester City are as expected here and are as short as 1/50! However, Coral go 1/20 on a home win.
Optimistic Huddersfield fans can back their team to cause one of the great shocks in the competition at 50/1 with Paddy Power and the draw is 16/1 with bet365.
Recent head to heads
It's been five seasons since the two clubs were in the Premier League and City won 3-0 and 6-1 that season.
Huddersfield did get a goalless draw at the Etihad on their previous visit but haven't won at Manchester City since 1999 and that was at Maine Road.
Players to watch
It will be interesting to see if Kevin de Bruyne gets the nod here. The Belgian playmaker is 13/8 to score anytime with William Hill.
Huddersfield's top league scorer is curiously a defender. Polish stopper Michal Helik has an impressive seven goals including two in his last two matches. He is 20/1 to score anytime with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
Sadly for Huddersfield, City tend to take these games pretty seriously so forget any mass squad rotation or playing the youngsters and it could get messy for the Terriers.
It will surely be a case of damage limitation for Town and given they have the fourth worst defence in the Championship, it should be a one-sided affair.
However, City are so short, you need to get creative to get anything over even money.. They are 7/5 to win minus three goals which they should cover with Paddy Power
Huddersfield midfielder Jack Rudoni likes a tackle and will have a busy afternoon here. He's had five yellow cards already this season and is 7/2 to collect another one with bet365.
This FA Cup match between Manchester City and Huddersfield Town will be played on Jan 7, 2024 and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best Manchester City vs Huddersfield Town prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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