Charlie Cummings previews Saturday’s FA Cup Round 4 match between Manchester City and Salford City.
The FA Cup rolls on this weekend with some Round 4 action between Manchester City and Salford City. The English Premier League powerhouse Citizens will play host to League Two side Salford on Saturday. We’ve already had huge upsets in this contest, so does the FA Cup have another massive surprise in store?
Manchester City are overwhelming -4000 ML favorites on the DraftKings Sportsbook. A Salford upset is priced at +3500 odds, with the draw at +1800. The over/under for this game is set at 4.5 goals. Let’s get into a prediction and a pick for this matchup.
Manchester City vs. Salford City prediction, pick
I might end up with egg on my face, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say Manchester City will be winning this one. We did have the biggest upset in league history based on league places in January; Northern League side Macclesfield overtook Crystal Palace, who were 117 places ahead of them in English football. Salford City are in the fourth tier of English football, which places them slightly closer to Man City, but the gulf is comparably immense.
Here’s some perspective. According to FotMob’s transfer market values, this Manchester City team is worth over a billion dollars on the open market if all its players were sold. Their cheapest player would be midfielder Mateo Kovacic, currently priced at $14 million. This Salford City team combined, from starting eleven to the end of the bench, is priced at $5.559 million. To say the talent gap here is immense would be an understatement. Earlier in the FA Cup, Manchester City dismantled Exeter City 10-1; that Exeter side is a full league above Salford City.
With victory all but assured, there is little value to be found in the result. Betting a -4000 line to get a few cents back? Hard pass. Instead, we have to look elsewhere for the value. I have two plays that place some stake in a rousing Manchester City victory.
Best Bets: Manchester City To Win by 4+ Goals (-175) and Antoine Semenyo 2+ Goals (+250)