Manchester City host Championship side Leeds United at the Etihad on Sunday as the reigning Premier League Champions look to progress into the Quarter finals of the FA Cup and keep themselves in contention for a trophy this season. Meanwhile, Leeds will be hoping that their second meeting this season with a top three Premier League side goes better than planned after their 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Chelsea in the quarter finals of the Capital One Cup earlier in the season.
Manchester City have fallen 12 points behind league leaders Manchester United after their shock 3-1 defeat to Southampton at St.Mary's last week. Roberto Mancini has repeatedly asserted that his job is not under threat, but given the precedence set by Chelsea and their owner Roman Abramovich, it is unlikely that the Italian will survive the summer without delivering silverware. City were 1-0 winners over Stoke City in the fourth round when Pablo Zabaleta scored a late goal to seek the champions through. If City manages to win the FA Cup this year, it will be their second win in three years, having won the cup in 2011.
On the other hand, Leeds United will be buoyed by the fact that they got the better of City when the last time these two teams met, incidentally in the Premier League with Stephen McPhail and Mark Viduka scoring for Leeds, while Nicholas Anelka pulled one back for City. However, much has transpired over the nine years and it will be unfair to compare the two teams in their current state. Leeds will be determined to prove themselves worthy of a return to the Premier League, having already got the better of Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth round and will fancy an under pressure City who have all to lose going into this match. Leeds are currently 12th in the League table, eight points off Middlesbrough who are sixth and in contention for a place in the play-offs. However, Leeds have encountered a dry spell since the turn of the year and have one only one of their last five matches in all competitions, including their 2-1 win over Tottenham.
City are set to welcome back Vincent Kompany into the squad with the defender having recovered from a calf injury which kept him out of the squad for over a month. Micah Richards is the only player to be ruled out with the England International suffering from a knee injury.
Probable Line Up:Hart; Maicon, Kompany, Nastasic, Kolarov; Silva, Rodwell, Y.Toure, Milner; Dzeko, Tevez
Leeds United manager Neil Warnock has a full side to choose with no players currently ruled out owing to injury.
Probable Line Up: Kenny; Green, Peltier, Lees, Warnock; Byram, Brown, Norris; Diouf, Morison, Varney
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