Premier League action takes a backseat for Middlesbrough and Manchester City this weekend as the sides faces off at the Riverside Stadium in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
City still, realistically speaking, have two trophies in their sights heading into the final straight, while Boro will simply be glad to put their relegation battle to one side for a couple of hours on Saturday lunchtime.
Middlesbrough
© SilverHub
There was almost a sense of inevitability about the latest round of Premier League action, which ended with the Smoggies dropping into the bottom three of the division for the first time since returning to this level last year.
An inability to find the net has seen them slip further and further towards the relegation zone before finally, following another 2-0 surrender to Stoke City last Saturday, they succumbed to the pressure from the sides below.
The inevitable rumours of boss Aitor Karanka being on the verge of dismissal have since surfaced, but in the build-up to Saturday's Cup tie the Spaniard - who has improved the club year-on-year since taking charge, culminating in last season's promotion - is adamant that he is still the right man to take the North-East outfit forward.
Relegation talk can be pushed to one side for now, with Karanka revealing that he has been given the full backing of chairman Steve Gibson and told to keep this cup run going - his job may very well depend on it.
Boro welcome City to the Riverside on the back of a league run that has seen them fail to pick up maximum points in 10 outings, while winning just the one match in 13 since the beginning of December - a 3-0 triumph over Swansea City that looked like being a huge turning point in terms of scoring goals more regularly.
The truth is that Boro simply do not have enough proven options in their attacking ranks, forcing Karanka to overlook leading marksman Alvaro Negredo last time out and instead go with a three-pronged attack in Adama Traore, Gaston Ramirez and Rudy Gestede.
A failure to find the net in a league match for the fourth time in succession did for Boro in the end, though while they are the outright lowest scorers in the top flight they can take some solace from the stats at the other end of the spectrum - goals conceded.
Only four teams have conceded fewer than Middlesbrough's tally of 30 this term, including Man City, which helps to clearly pinpoint exactly where the blame lies should they indeed go immediately back down come the end of the season.
Karanka will welcome the respite that the FA Cup brings this weekend, looking to add City to a list of teams that includes Sheffield Wednesday, Accrington Stanley and Oxford United on their run to this stage of the famous competition.
Form in FA Cup: WLLWWW
Recent form (all competitions): DLDWLL
Manchester City
© SilverHub
It was a case of opportunity missed for City in midweek when being held to a frustrating goalless draw by Stoke on home soil, seeing them remain in third place and now level on points with Tottenham Hotspur in second.
Boss Pep Guardiola recently conceded that his men would need to win all of their remaining league outings if they had any hope of chasing down runaway leaders Chelsea, so focus for the Citizens now turns to cup competitions.
Success in the Champions League will take priority in this huge week for the club, knowing that a stalemate in the picturesque climates of Monaco will see them through to the quarter-finals of Europe's showpiece competition, though the first leg suggests that goals aplenty can be expected in that one.
The draw with Stoke may have been a setback for the Citizens, but they are certainly back on track following a mid-season wobble and have now gone 10 games without defeat in all competitions, finding the net 12 times in three matches prior to their midweek stalemate.
A sixth FA Cup triumph, and just a second since the 1960s, will certainly help Guardiola on his quest to turn City into a true force, and his side have been boosted by avoiding fellow big hitters Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at this sixth-round stage.
Not that it was plain sailing for City in the last round, having been taken to a replay by Championship promotion chasers Huddersfield Town, only to ease to a 5-1 win in the replay following an early scare to revert back to the norm.
That followed on from straightforward wins over West Ham United (5-0) and Crystal Palace (3-0) away from home in the opening rounds, helping Guardiola's men through to this stage for the first time since 2013-14 and going a long way to show that they really are a force to be reckoned with on their day.
It remains to be seen just how strong the side named by Guardiola will be on Saturday, with the Catalan coach hinting after the meeting with Stoke on Wednesday that fixture congestion was behind the disappointing result - this meeting with Boro their 14th outing since the turn of the year.
Consistency has for so long been a problem for the two-time Premier League winners in recent months, but should things go to plan they could find themselves second in the Premier League, into the last four of the FA Cup and with a Champions League quarter-final to look forward to by the end of next week.
The flipside of that scenario does not bear thinking about for Guardiola and his men in the first year of this long-term project being taken on.
Form in FA Cup: WLWWDW
Recent form (all competitions): WDWWWD
Team News
© SilverHub
Guardiola did rotate his starting lineup slightly for his side's last outing, leaving David Silva and John Stones on the bench, while giving in-form winger Raheem Sterling the night off entirely.
All three, injury permitting, will likely be recalled to the side on Saturday, with Ilkay Gundogan and Gabriel Jesus the only long-term absentees as far as City are concerned.
The only real talking point comes in the heart of defence, as skipper Vincent Kompany recently returned to full training and has been closing in on a return to first-team action for the past week.
In terms of the hosts, centre-backs Daniel Ayala and Calum Chambers have both been ruled out of the quarter-final tie, and fellow defensive option George Friend is also a doubt with a calf problem.
Rudy Gestede failed to truly impress when thrown into the mix at Selhurst Park last weekend, so Karanka may well revert to type and bring in Negredo, who scored nine league goals for City in the 2013-14 season.
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Guzan; Fabio, Bernardo, Gibson, Friend; Leadbitter, Roon, Forshaw; Traore, Negredo, Fischer
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Bravo; Zabaleta, Stones, Kompany, Clichy; Fernandinho, Fernando; Navas, Silva, Sterling; Aguero
Head To Head
Middlesbrough knocked Man City out of the FA Cup in the fourth round two years ago at the Etihad Stadium and also claimed a more than credible 1-1 draw at the same venue in their most recent league meeting.
History suggests that this will also be a tightly-run contest, in fact, as the teams share an almost identical overall record - the Smoggies winning 49 of the 127 previous encounters and City prevailing 50 times.
The Citizens have been eliminated from this competition by this weekend's opponents in four of their last five meetings, the most recent of which saw Patrick Bamford and Kike score the goals in that famous win in 2015.
We say: Middlesbrough 0-2 Manchester City
Boro may have proven pedigree when it comes to facing Man City in this competition, but recent form suggests that all Man City have to do to win this weekend is find the net just once. Karanka's men have a serious problem when it comes to scoring goals, which will haunt them once again this weekend as they slip to a 2-0 loss on home soil.
No Data Analysis info
