Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany hopes that Pep Guardiola will hand a number of academy players a 'deserved' start in Saturday's FA Cup clash with Salford City, but he has insisted that the Citizens must take their third-round tie "seriously".
After enduring a torrid run of form at the backend of last year, Man City are now bidding to win three games in a row after beating Leicester City and West Ham United in their last two Premier League fixtures, winning 4-1 against the latter last weekend.
Salford, meanwhile, head to the Etihad Stadium in fine form having won eight of their last nine matches in all competitions, and they sit third in League Two following a six-game winning streak.
While the fourth-tier side have made history by progressing to the FA Cup third round for the first time, after beating Cheltenham Town 2-0 in the second round, Man City have advanced to the semi-final stage in each of the last six seasons, but they have only won the competition twice in that time, most recently losing to rivals Manchester United in last season's final.
Guardiola is expected to rotate his team for Saturday's contest and McInerney has explained why that could have a "negative" impact on Salford's chances of pulling off an almighty upset.
Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: "I think City are going to have to make changes. Weirdly, I think those changes are going to be negative for Salford, because I think City are going to play some academy lads who will still be far too good for Salford and may actually fix one or two of the issues that City have got right now in terms of pace and physicality in midfield.
Mubama to make Man City debut? McAtee, O'Reilly, Wright to start?
"I expect Nico O'Reilly to play for example. I know he's nowhere near the polished level of the City's world-class players in midfield, but I do think he's more physical than anything Bernardo [Silva], [Mateo] Kovacic or [Ilkay] Gundogan can do right now.
"Given the fact that he's going to be technically better than Salford City's midfield, I expect that will actually help Man City.
"I think the likes of [James] McAtee will get a start as well. He's earned it recently - a couple of cameos off the bench [and is] very much in Pep's thoughts currently. He'll get a start.
"I do wonder if the young striker City signed from West Ham in the summer, Divin Mubama, (will start). He's just back from injury, scored a few goals for City's Under-23s. I do wonder if he'll get a go because he's been on the bench recently and [Erling] Haaland does need a rest. It could be that McAtee plays as a false nine, though.
"I think [Jahmai] Simpson-Pusey will probably start this game and I also expect Jacob Wright to be involved. I would love to see Jacob Wright, Nico O'Reilly and McAtee forming the midfield, [but] I don't think Guardiola is going to do that.
"I think Gundogan will start the game because he hasn't started the last couple. I think Kyle Walker, [Jeremy] Doku and [Matheus] Nunes will probably start as well given they didn't start the game at the weekend."
McInerney hopes that Guardiola will rest a number of senior stars, adding: "Guardiola has a tendency to go reasonably strong, if he feels the team need it, [but] I hope he rotates some players. I don't want to see [Kevin] De Bruyne, Haaland, [Nathan] Ake, [Manuel] Akanji, [Josko] Gvardiol, anywhere near this team, but that requires, of course, the young players to come in.
"The game's going to be interesting. I really do hope Pep uses it as a chance to give a few of the young players a run-out that they deserve and the rest for some of the senior players that they deserve at the same time."
Salford clash a "potential banana skin" Man City must take "seriously"
Although Man City will be considered as huge favourites to come out on top, McInerney has suggested that Saturday's fixture against an in-form Salford side is a "potential banana skin" for the reigning Premier League champions.
"Salford will go into this game - not confident, that's probably the wrong word - but a little bit less fearful than they would have been in previous years," said McInerney. "It's at the Etihad Stadium [and] is crazy that I'm sat here even having caveats before City plays Salford City, a fourth tier side in the FA Cup, but we've got to be realistic where we are.
"It'll be fun. I expected City to win, but I don't think City should take this for granted. If there's ever going to be a big upset, and City look silly at home against the lower-league side, it's against Salford City with the connections to Man United and their owners. This is a potential banana skin and City have to take it seriously.
"Football has this beautiful tendency to write these silly little stories and City playing Salford right now, after everything they've been through... be sensible and be smart because it's already written itself. City just have to make sure they don't let that final page get written, because it's very obviously set up for a dramatic twist. Having said that, logic dictates that City should win and they should win comfortably, even with a few changes."
Is the FA Cup important for Man City this season?
Discussing the importance of the FA Cup for Man City, who have struggled in both the Premier League and Champions League this term, McInerney added: "It is and it isn't. I think a chance to win the third game in a row is great, because City's standards are in the mud at the moment.
"I do think City probably want to win it, but I don't think they're looking at anything else right now other than the top four. I think you have to finish in the Champions League spots.
"Having said that, it's only a few games until you're at Wembley. I think Guardiola has an insatiable hunger for silverware. We haven't won the FA Cup enough, I would argue, in general during Guardiola's reign.
"I do think City will take it seriously. I don't want Guardiola to take it seriously until the last stages of the competition, though, because once again the injuries are too severe.
"It should be the place where Nico O'Reilly and James McAtee and Jacob Wright get a start, because the (senior) players are tired. I want City to take it reasonably seriously - by seriously I mean use it as a way to freshen the squad a little bit, alleviate some of the risks.
"If Haaland gets injured, we're screwed. I don't think De Bruyne should be near the pitch either. The FA Cup is not the priority this season, but use it as a tool and see where we're at."
Man City are still having to cope without injured trio Rodri, Ruben Dias and John Stones, and Saturday's game will also come too soon for Oscar Bobb - even though he returned to partial training this week after five months out with a leg fracture - but goalkeeper Ederson is "fine" according to Guardiola and he could return between the sticks.
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion. body check tags ::
