Sports Blog 09/01/2018: EFL Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg Preview – Manchester City vs Bristol City, Tuesday 9th January 2018

Is there any chance Bristol City can pull off a huge upset and disrupt Man City’s march to victory in Tuesday’s EFL Cup semi-final 1st leg?

After a few years of relegation-flirting finishes Bristol are aiming for the big time. Currently they sit in 4th place in the Championship, separated from 3rd place Cardiff by goal difference alone, and only 2 points adrift of 2nd place Derby (they’re admittedly 14 points away from the almost certainly Premier League-bound Wolves).



Not only have the Robins impressed, in the Championship, they’ve also been on a bit of a tear in the EFL Cup. Starting with a 5-0 hammering of Plymouth Argyle, they then overcome the odds 4 times in a row, beating a string of Premier League opponents.

First off there was their 3-2 away win over Watford – who repaid Bristol in kind by booting them out of the FA Cup on Saturday – followed by a 2-0 victory against Stoke and a 4-1 humiliation of Crystal Palace respectively. Their crowning glory, however, came in the quarter-finals, where a 93rd minute winner from Korey Smith gave Bristol a shock 2-1 triumph over reigning champions Manchester United.

Now they just need to do it again, admittedly against a side that looks near enough infallible. Man City are sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League with a 15 point lead, are facing an eminently winnable trip to Basel in the Champions League last 16 in February, and breezed past Burnley in Saturday’s FA Cup fixture with a 4-1 win.

Yet if City are to slip up in any competition this season, then it may well be the League Cup. A tight 2-1 victory over West Brom in the 3rd round then led to a penalty wins over Wolves and Leicester after extra time ended 0-0 and 1-1 respectively.

All this may come down to what kind of team Pep Guardiola fields on Tuesday, especially considering his is facing a trip to Liverpool this weekend. If the likes of Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling – both of who are on 18 goals in all competitions, and who sit at colossal Super Mega PGMs of 99-119 and 51-59 – make an appearance then it might be game over for Bristol. And even if they don’t Guardiola can still send out the likes of Leroy Sane, at 39-45, and Bernardo Silva, at 27-32.

Beating Man United is one thing; beating their blue rivals is another entirely. The Robins could be in for a bit of a nightmare, at a Man City/Bristol (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 2.8-3 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.9-4.1.