Venue: Glanford Park Sunday, January 24th 2010 Kick-Off:16:00 Subscribe to Sky Now

Scunthorpe play host to Manchester City later today in this 4th Round FA Cup fixture, which can be seen Live on ITV with a 4pm Kick Off Time.

Scunthorpe enter this game on a 4 game unbeaten run and will hoping that the crowd will act as an extra man for them as they go up against the multi million pound Premiership side. A 1-0 scoreline over Barnsely in the previous round earned them their place in this 4th Round Tie and if they were able to somehow come away from this game with a win, it would certainly be one of the biggest shocks in the FA Cup we have seen for a few years.

Mancini and his City side, will no doubt be fully aware that defeat against Scunthorpe today would see them come under tremendous fire from the press and with Mancini having had a perfect start to his management career at Man City when he joined, a 2-0 defeat away to Everton in the League 8 days ago has proved that their are certainly some cracks starting to appear.

Scunthorpe Team News

Josh Wright has recovered from recent illness and should be involved in the starting lineup and Goal Keeper, Josh Lillis will be hoping that he is picked to keep his place between the sticks as Scunthorpe's number 1 keeper, Joe Murphy has recovered quickly with a shoulder problem and will undergo a late fitness test to asses his chances of starting.

Manchester City Team News

Stephen Ireland has now fully recovered from a recent hamstring injury and will be included in the starting lineup. There could also be a place up front for Benjani as Mancini is likely to give Tevez a rest. Roque Santa Cruz and Patrick Vieira are both suffering from calf problems and will be missing. Joleon Lescott, Michael Johnson and Wayne Bridge are all out for a while yet as all 3 players recover from knee injuries.

Summary

We saw Preston frustrate Chelsea in yesterdays FA Cup 4th Round Tie and if Scunthorpe have any chance of pulling of a shock then they should certainly start the game with the same attitude as Preston did. A packed midfield will make it very difficult for City to find space and rythmn with their passing and this will no doubt present counter attack opportunites for Scunthorpe from time to time.

However, its very unlikely to see Scunthorpe mixing it up with the Premiership club for the entire 90mins and City will obviously have chances throughout the game, the bookmakers have City priced up at quite skinny odds and like the earlier game this really doesn't provide us with any real value at all.

The sensible wager on this game looks like taking Manchester City -2 on the Corner Handicap, which is nicely priced up at odds of 1.85 with Bet365.com. With players like Shaun Wright Phillips and Bellamy tearing down the wings, City should earn themselves a fair few corners in my opinion and look a good bet to get 3 or more than Scunthorpe will.

Dave's Prediction:

Manchester City -2 Corners @ 1.85 with with Bet365