Luton Town will be bidding to pull off one of the biggest results in their history when they welcome Manchester City to Kenilworth Road in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Tuesday night.
The home side will enter the contest off the back of a 4-1 defeat at Liverpool in the Premier League last Wednesday, while Man City continued their title pursuit with a 1-0 success at Bournemouth on Saturday.
Match preview
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Luton have gained plenty of admirers for their style of football this season and ability to cause the big clubs problems, especially at home, but the Hatters will enter this match off the back of three successive Premier League losses to Sheffield United, Manchester United and Liverpool.
Rob Edwards's side are 18th in the Premier League table, one point behind 17th-placed Everton, with their next league match coming at home to Aston Villa next weekend.
Luton's immediate focus is on the FA Cup, though, and they have claimed two impressive away wins in the competition so far this season, beating Bolton Wanderers 2-1 in the third round before overcoming Everton by the same scoreline in the fourth round at the end of last month.
The Hatters have never won the FA Cup, but they famously reached the final of the 1958-59 competition, suffering a 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest in the final.
Luton have already lost to Man City at Kenilworth Road this season, with the English champions running out 2-1 winners in the Premier League on December 10, but they needed to come from behind after Elijah Adebayo had made the breakthrough in the closing stages of the first period.
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This will be the first FA Cup meeting between the two sides since January 1969, when Man City recorded a 1-0 victory at Maine Road, and the Citizens will now be bidding to reach the quarter-finals of this season's tournament.
Pep Guardiola's side recorded a 5-0 victory over Huddersfield Town in the third round of the competition on January 7 before beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 away from home on January 26, and the club are now preparing to take on more Premier League opposition in the shape of Luton.
Man City have won the FA Cup on seven previous occasions, and they are the holders of the trophy, having beaten Manchester United 2-1 in last year's final, so the English champions are bidding to make it back-to-back FA Cup trophies and indeed back-to-back trebles this season.
Guardiola's team recorded a 3-1 victory over Copenhagen in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League contest, while they will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 victory over Bournemouth in the Premier League.
Man City have been far from perfect in the league this term, but they are in a strong position to challenge for the title, sitting second in the table, one point behind the leaders Liverpool on the same number of games (26).
Team News
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Luton will again be without the services of Tom Lockyer, Marvelous Nakamba, Jacob Brown and Mads Andersen, while Alfie Doughty and Albert Sambi Lokonga will require late fitness tests.
The match is also expected to come too soon for Adebayo, with the club currently looking to get to the route of the striker's thigh problem.
Head coach Edwards is expected to hand opportunities to some squad players on Tuesday, with Tim Krul set to start between the sticks, while Andros Townsend and Reece Burke should also come into the XI.
As for Man City, Josko Gvardiol remains out with an ankle problem, but the English champions are otherwise in strong shape when it comes to their squad for this match.
Guardiola will make changes to the side that started against Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday, with Jeremy Doku, Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker potentially coming into the side.
There is also expected to be a spot between the sticks for Stefan Ortega, while Phil Foden could be given a rest in the FA Cup fixture due to the volume of football that he has played in recent weeks.
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Krul; Burke, Mengi, Bell; Ogbene, Lokonga, Barkley, Doughty; Chong, Morris, Townsend
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ortega; Walker, Dias, Ake; Rodri, Stones; B Silva, Alvarez, De Bruyne, Doku; Haaland
We say: Luton Town 1-3 Manchester City
Luton have shown throughout the season that they can cause problems for any side, but we are finding it difficult to predict a positive result for the Hatters here. Guardiola is expected to name a strong side, and the Citizens should have too much quality for their opponents on Tuesday night.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
