Manchester City to face Sheffield Wednesday in FA Cup Fifth Round

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 24: Adam Reach celebrates his sides second goal scored by Sam Winnall of Sheffield Wednesday during the FA Cup Fourth Round match between Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday at The Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on January 24, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by James Chance/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 24: Adam Reach celebrates his sides second goal scored by Sam Winnall of Sheffield Wednesday during the FA Cup Fourth Round match between Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday at The Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on January 24, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by James Chance/Getty Images)

Manchester City will continue their FA Cup defense against another Championship opponent: Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

After cruising by Fulham in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup at home, Manchester City were drawn against Sheffield Wednesday away for their Fifth Round tie.

Wednesday sit 10th in the Championship on 42 points, but are well within striking distance of the promotion playoffs, as sixth-placed Preston North End are just four points above them with an extra game played.

The Fifth Round matches will be played in midweek to avoid fixture congestion, and this round will not feature replays, so the match at Hillsborough will be decided by extra time and penalties if necessary. City have not played against the Owls since 2015, also in the FA Cup, in a 2-1 home win. That same season, however, they faced off in a League Cup match which City managed a 7-0 thumping at the Etihad.

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Wednesday defeated Queens Park Rangers in the Fourth Round, and will surely be up for the match. Despite rotating the side routinely for these fixtures, Pep Guardiola’s City have looked invincible in domestic cups recently. Avoiding defeat against rivals Manchester United in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg would see City go 20 games unbeaten across the two cup competitions.

As City march on in the FA Cup, this is an exciting draw, and it does seem promising from a City perspective. The club’s last domestic cup defeat came in the 2018 FA Cup shock upset to Wigan Athletic, so the team will need to remain focused in order to avoid a similar fate and defend the trophy.