Pre-Match View From Man City

“We better go strong for this
( I have a non refundable hotel booked for the final )”

“We underestimated Southampton in the league cup let’s not do that with Sheffield.”

“I watched the Sheffield United game against Cardiff, and they looked good.”

“Kind of expecting Sheffield United to make this very competitive given that their all but promoted”

” I reckon we’ll field a strong side against Sheffield United and go off to the sound of the trumpets again. Should we get ourselves in a similar winning position next weekend, we’ll rotate again ahead of Arsenal.”

“I can see us making a couple of changes, maybe Walker, Alvarez and Mahrez getting a start. We have Arsenal on the Wednesday so we have to have 1 eye on that.”

“Can see quite a patched up team with Arsenal on the horizon..”

“Very similar to after the atletico semi final last season. Knackered small squad and heavy rotation coming. Should still have enough. Come on city”

“Wholesale changes, for me. Feel bad for the traveling fans but with such a thin squad, this is, by far, the least important fixture remaining.”

“with respect to sheffield united we should be beating them comfortably even with a much changed team.”

“They have a promotion game at home in the week after this. I don’t think they will want to risk any injuries as won’t want to miss that.”

“they’re not the same team without Doyle and McAtee. That said, it should never be forgotten that for the Sheffield United players, this is not just another football match. This is the biggest event in the club’s history in decades. And for these players, they’re playing on the biggest stage possible, probably for the only time. We’ve seen it before, with Wigan. A fairly ordinary team can play out of their skins.
It’s simple: take them seriously, and we’ll win, comfortably.”

“No disrespect to the blades as they’re having a good season and will surely be up for it, but even a weakened side should see us through. Especially since Doyle and McAtee can’t play.”

“we will be playing a double-weakened Sheffield United team, which should help.”

“No doubt we will make 3 or 4 changes, and the game will be over by half time
That’s not being arrogant, it’s because we are a phenomenal side who are flying, whilst Sheff United are missing two of their best players, and are up against the best team in Europe”

“A decent hard working side but limited. Without McAteer and Doyle they’ll be weaker. Playing our second string evens it up though and being at Wembley they’ll raise their game. “

“The good news is we have enough quality to play an entirely different front 3 in this game and still batter Sheffield. The bad is we don’t have the depth at the back to do the same”

“I’m hoping the massive drop off once we made our subs against Leicester was a big wake up call for Pep. While fully understanding why he did it, it showed even at 3-0 up they can’t be trusted. They limped over the line with a big slice of luck. If he picks that lot to start against Sheffield United it will be another semi final lost”

“I just hope we don’t underestimate Sheffield United. The team that finished agaist Leicester will struggle vs Sheffield United”

“Sheffield themselves may want to rest key players ahead of West Brom they absolutely need promotion. though with four days between matches they may not.”

“We could struggle to beat a physical Sheff Utd team”

“Sheff Utd look a big and industrial side. My worry is injuries to City players.”

“They have a number of big, ponderous players by our standards who can cause damage during the game, intentional or not”

“Refs tend to let championship teams get away with over physical tackles against us…..”

“the more I watched Sheffield United play (and it’s tough)…
It’s clear the best player on that team is Iliman Ndiaye, he is so good on the ball, and only 23 years old.
We never buy from the championship because of our standard but he is young enough and talented enough imo to give a chance on.”

“I really like the look of Ndaiye”

“I’d like to see them make it back to the Prem. Even though they were the red and white side of Sheffield, I felt in the 1980s that they were the city’s underdog club and I had more affinity with them for that reason. Add the fact that they have two of our young players on loan this season and I’d welcome them back up.”

“There are a few Sheffield United fans at my work and they are not confident in the slightest. They say they will miss the two City boys on loan too much to put up a real fight without them.
I told them if Kalvin Phillips plays they will have a chance whatever team they put out!”

“With all due respect to Sheffield, they will not blow 100 mil on some key signings and McAtee will suffer in a struggling team. He can only do something (with his physique at this stage) if he and the team have ball possession. Will be interesting to see where his next move is.”

“If Tommy Doyle is prem level then he should be closer to 40m. So if they get him for 20m there should be a bigger than usual sell on fee, eg 50%. Or add ons that rise it up should they stay up.”

“Sheffield United could be in trouble next year even if they go up. Most of their current players are out of contract in the summer (and aren’t PL quality anyway) whilst a couple of the better one (Berge and Ndiaye) only have one year left so they might have to cash in on them. They’re also currently under a transfer embargo. I wouldn’t want McAtee or Doyle anywhere near them next season.”

“Sheffield utd haven’t sold out yet, this cost of living crisis is affecting everyone. Their first trip to Wembley for a long time as well.”

“Calling either of the main Sheffield teams ‘Sheffield’ is annoying. Sheffield FC are a completely different team, it’s Sheffield WEDNESDAY and Sheffield UNITED.”