Live match preview – Swindon vs Man City 07.01.2022

Pep Guardiola will miss Manchester City’s FA Cup third-round tie at Swindon on Friday after testing positive for Covid-19.

The City manager recorded a positive test on Tuesday along with assistant Juanma Lillo.

Both are now isolating, along with a number of other positive cases within the first-team bubble, City confirmed.

The club now have 14 backroom staff and seven first-team players isolating due to Covid-19. Assistant coach Rodolfo Borrell will take charge of the team for the trip to Swindon.

Asked how Guardiola was, Borrell said: “He is fine. He has got the virus but fortunately he doesn’t have a lot of symptoms.”

Borrell would not confirm which players would be unavailable for Friday’s game.

He said: “This is not for me to say. We have seven players (out) and I have to prepare for the game. I would not like to mention them because I might forget one. I don’t think it is for me to say right now.”

Borrell was asked if the high number of cases could lead to the match possibly being postponed.

He said: “We have prepared mentally for the game. We have to prepare for the game to happen. If tomorrow it is not possible because of more news, this is out of our reach for now.

“Possibly, (it will) be one of the most easy line-ups we have to decide. We just play with the ones available. We don’t have much more.”

As things stand, Friday’s FA Cup match at the County Ground will go ahead. Following the fixture with Swindon, City are scheduled to face Chelsea in the Premier League at the Etihad on Saturday, January 15.

Earlier on Thursday, Burnley revealed manager Sean Dyche will miss their tie at home to Huddersfield Town after he tested positive for Covid-19.

His assistant Ian Woan will now take charge of the side until Dyche returns from his isolation period.

Team news

Swindon could hand Jake O’Brien, who joined from Crystal Palace on loan earlier this month, his debut.

Goalkeeper Joe Wollacott earned a call-up to the Ghana squad for the Africa Cup of Nations and will not be available so Lewis Ward is set to get the nod. Centre-back Mathieu Baudry is missing due to a hip tendon injury while Jack Payne could also be absent after being withdrawn against Northampton.

Phil Foden and Oleksandr Zinchenko both missed Manchester City‘s win at Arsenal after testing positive, while Riyad Mahrez is at AFCON and John Stones is a doubt.

Opta stats

• This is the first meeting in any competition between Swindon and Man City since an FA Cup third round tie in January 2002, the Citizens winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Paulo Wanchope and Kevin Horlock.
• Manchester City have won 10 of their last 11 meetings with Swindon in all competitions (L1), with these matches taking place between 1988 and 2002.
• Swindon Town are looking to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2011-12 – their third round match that season was a 2-1 victory against Wigan Athletic, the last time they faced Premier League opposition in the competition.
• Man City have progressed from their last seven FA Cup ties against sides from the fourth tier or lower, last losing against Blackpool in January 1984.
• Man City’s Bernardo Silva has been directly involved in nine goals in his last 10 starts in the FA Cup, scoring five and assisting four. The Portuguese has been on the winning side in 13 of his 14 appearances in the competition in total, losing only against League One Wigan in February 2018.

Man City’s next six fixtures

January 7: Swindon (A) – FA Cup

January 15: Chelsea (H) – Premier League

January 22: Southampton (A) – Premier League, Sky Sports

February 9: Brentford (H) – Premier League

February 12: Norwich (A) – Premier League, Sky Sports

February 15: Sporting Lisbon (A) – Champions League

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