Getty Manchester City's Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho celebrates with teammates after he scores his team's second goal during the English League Cup semi final first leg football match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on January 6, 2021. (Photo by Shaun Botterill / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by SHAUN BOTTERILL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Manchester City kicks its FA Cup campaign off Sunday at home against Birmingham City.
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In the United States, the match (8:30 a.m. ET) won’t be on TV anywhere, but anyone in the US can watch Man City vs Birmingham live on ESPN+ right here:
ESPN+ has live coverage of every FA Cup match in 20-21, as well as Carabao Cup, EFL, Bundesliga, Serie A, DFL Supercup, Bundesliga 2, MLS and other live sports. It also includes every 30-for-30 documentary and additional original content (both video and written) all for $5.99 per month.
Or, if you also want Disney+ and Hulu, you can get all three for $12.99 per month, which works out to about 31 percent savings:
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Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Man City vs Birmingham live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Man City vs Birmingham Preview
Man City is fresh from defeating Man United in the Carabao Cup semis, 2-0, on Wednesday. The Citizens have won their last five matches, and they haven’t lost since November 21. Add the fact that they could possibly be activating Sergio Aguero before this match, and they’re about to get far more dangerous.
Head coach Pep Guardiola said that the following about Aguero prior to the matchup, per Sports Illustrated: “He is so optimistic, saying he will have a good season, score lots. We don’t want to create pressure but most of the games we need him as a striker. The most important thing is the consistency we have shown in the last three games. We changed the way we played after the West Brom game and we have to show the consistency we have shown in the last three games. That’s why we need players coming back, we cannot sustain this effort for 14, 15 games.”
As for Birmingham, the team has hit a bit of a dry spell. They haven’t scored a goal in their last three contests, losing 4-0 to Derby County at the end of December before falling 2-0 to the Blackburn Rovers January 2.
Despite finding themselves in a bit of a rut, Birmingham boss Aitor Karanka says he has been reminding his players they will have their opportunities — but the key will be seizing them. “I think it is a nice game to play. I hope that everybody likes to play these sorts of games against one of the best teams, not just in the Premier League but in Europe and the world. If we are organized and committed on the pitch, we are going to have our chances to score goals. We have to go there thinking we can compete and let’s see what happens,” Karanka said, per BBC.com.
On the injury front, Nathan Aké and Aymeric Laporte could miss for Man City, while Gary Gardner and Alen Halilovic are questionable for Birmingham City.
Here’s a look at the predicted starting lineups for both teams:
Man City possible starting lineup: Zack Steffen (GK), Kyle Walker, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Rúben Dias, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Rodri, Fernandinho, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, Sergio Agüero, Raheem Sterling
Birmingham possible starting lineup: Andres Prieto, Harlee Dean, Maxime Colin, Jake Clarke-Salter, George Friend, Adam Clayton, Maikel Kieftenbeld, Jon Toral, Jeremie Bela, Scott, Jonathan Leko