Preview: Man City aim to avoid FA Cup shock against Exeter City
Manchester City welcome League One side Exeter City to the Etihad in the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.
The third round of the oldest national football competition in the world used to be one of the best weekends in the footballing calendar. Sadly, the magic of the cup has dwindled over the years.
Nevertheless, Exeter will be dreaming of taking a massive scalp as Pep Guardiola’s men look to claim their first victory of 2026.
Man City have hit a roadblock
The final few weeks of 2025 saw City at their imperious best, winning eight successive matches in all competitions.
This year, however, the club have drawn all three matches they have played, failing to beat Sunderland, Chelsea or Brighton in the Premier League.
Despite all of his success in Manchester, Guardiola has lifted the FA Cup on just two occasions and will be eyeing the famous old trophy once again.
City have lost just once to lower league opposition in this competition under the Spaniard and that came in his second season. Since that 1-0 loss to League One side Wigan in 2017/18, the club have reached at least the semi-finals in every edition.
While that was a shock, a defeat against Exeter this weekend would surely go down as the biggest surprise of his reign at the club.
Can Exeter City pull off a major surprise?
The simple answer would appear to be no. This is the FA Cup, however, a competition which is famed for the heroics of lower league clubs against top flight opposition.
The Grecians have won just four games since October 23 and currently sit 14th in League One, although they defeated Halifax Town and Wycombe Wanderers without conceding a goal to reach this stage.
Jayden Wareham is their top scorer with 11 goals in all competitions so far this season and if Exeter are to pull off an almighty shock at the Etihad, they will be relying heavily on the 22-year-old striker.
Team news
Guardiola will be missing several of his first team players for the tie. Indeed, John Stones, Mateo Kovačić, Oscar Bobb, Savinho, Rúben Dias and Joško Gvardiol are all absent due to injury issues.
Elsewhere, Rayan Aït-Nouri and Omar Marmoush are still on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco.
Johnly Yfeko, Josh Magennis, Ryan Rydel and Danny Andrew will be missing for the away side for the trip to Manchester.
Both Pierce Sweeney and Jake Doyle-Hayes will be looking to return to the starting XI after they both dropped to the bench last time out.
Prediction
Remarkably, City have won their last 19 FA Cup matches against clubs outside of the Premier League, scoring 72 goals in the process.
While the club may have hit a stumbling block recently, a big win against Exeter will surely bolster their confidence heading into the next few weeks.
As such, expect the home side to dominate proceedings and stroll through to the next round with ease: Manchester City 4-0 Exeter City.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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