Preston vs Manchester City Predictions

Manchester City responded to their loss at Norwich in emphatic style on Saturday, thumping Watford 8-0 at the Etihad. That result came days after a classy 3-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk, which was an impressive way to get their Champions League campaign up and running. Next, the Carabao Cup holders are defending their trophy against a Preston side who have made an early push for a top-flight place. Can Alex Neil’s side show their promotion ambitions by testing the champions?

Preston are up to third in the Championship following their strong start to the campaign. This weekend brought a 1-0 win for them at Birmingham, a result which helps to straighten up their struggles on the road. If they can keep that up, then a promotion push could be on. All they were missing last term was a few more results on their travels. Their home form has continued to be fantastic so far, but will it be enough to trouble Man City?

The Citizens come here with 11 unanswered goals in the last week. Despite that, their defensive issues are well covered. With John Stones and Aymeric Laporte out at the weekend, City were left with Fernandinho as a makeshift centre-half alongside Otamendi. That isn’t the ideal partnership for City, but given that’s their best option heading into a run which sees them away to Everton and at home to Wolves and Dinamo Zagreb, we expect City to rest at least one of the pair here.

Without those two at the back, Pep Guardiola will need either youth or versatility to solve their defensive issues. Given the likelihood of a rotated side from City, we expect the visitors to struggle at the back. This season Preston have scored 12 goals in five home games, while they are looking strong going forward across the board. With City distracted, they could easily grab a goal at home this week.

City’s options going forward are a lot better, with the likes of Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus potentially featuring. This is a City side who have been scoring for fun this season, with the Watford game taking them to 27 goals in just seven matches. In this competition last season the visitors claimed a 9-0 win over Burton, while the last week suggests they’ll rack up the goals at Deepdale.

This competition has tended to be high scoring for Preston here. The hosts have seen over three goals in their last three matches, while seven of their last eight Carabao Cup matches have seen four goals or more. Given how City are shaping up for this one, we are predicting goals. Over 3.5 goals in this clash is our tip, while we are backing City to pull off another big win, with a final score of 4-1 to the visitors our correct score pick.