CARDIFF City will host Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on Sunday, January 28 in a huge fourth round FA Cup tie.
Cardiff have sold 26,000 of their tickets with only 1,000 remaining. Man City have been allocated 3,765 seats. Tickets go on general sale on Wednesday, January 24 and are available online and at Cardiff City Stadium to season ticket holders.
Match Preview
Premier League table toppers Man City arrive in Cardiff in fine form. Twelve points clear and with only one loss in the league all season, City will be looking to progress to the next round.
Cardiff have gone through a rough patch recently with only two wins in their last six and a goalless draw away to Sheffield Wednesday in their last game.
A third-round replay away at Mansfield saw the Bluebirds win 4-1 to set up a mouth-watering tie at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Man City came from behind in spectacular fashion to win 4-1 at home to Burnley scoring wonderful goals in the process.
Cardiff Vs Man City. Third Round FA Cup, 1982
Cardiff famously beat City 3-2 in their debut Premier League Season in 2013 and Neil Warnock will be hoping for a similar result. Interestingly, none of the players in the squad that day remain now as stars like Craig Bellamy have retired.
“He’ll [Guardiola] know what he can expect from us, he’s not daft,” said Warnock.
“We’ll be up for it and I’d be disappointed if it’s not a full house and hopefully we can have a look at how Liverpool did it.
“It’s a fabulous reward and it will be a tough test for us, but you’ve got to beat these teams if you want to win the cup.”
The Bluebirds boss may look at Liverpool’s blueprint on how to beat this City side following their 4-3 loss at Anfield last week. He can also call on recent loan signing Marko Grujic, from Liverpool, on Jurgen Klopp’s blueprint.
Whatever the result, both bosses will enjoy a glass of wine together after the game.
“I might buy some wine for when he [Guardiola] comes, but I’ll drink it myself,” said a smiling Warnock.
Cardiff sit third in the table and will be hoping to push for promotion this season. Their last cup final was a heart-breaking loss on penalties against Liverpool at Wembley in 2012.
Manchester City are firing on all four fronts and are favourites to do the quadruple. But Guardiola believes this is unrealistic.
“When in March or April we are still in the competitions then we’ll talk,” he said.
Kick-off is 4pm, Sunday, January 28 and is live on BBC One.
Predicted line-ups
Cardiff, 4-3-3: Etheridge; Richards, Morrison, Manga, Bennet; Bamba, Ralls, Grujic; Hoillett, Zohore, Mendez- Laing
Man City, 4-3-3: Bravo, Danilo, Stones, Otamendi, Zinchenko; Yaya Toure, Gundogan, De Bruyne; Sane, Aguero, Sterling
Cardiff have not lost a league match at the Cardiff City Stadium in nine games.
