Match details: Manchester City versus Plymouth Argyle, FA Cup fifth round
Venue: The Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Date: Saturday 1st March, 2025
Kick off: 5.45pm
Head-to-Head:
Manchester City: 11
Draw: 4
Plymouth Argyle: 5
Current Form (last six, all competitions):
Manchester City:
L 1-5 Arsenal A
W 2-1 Leyton Orient A (FA Cup)
L 2-3 Real Madrid H (UEFA Champions League)
W 4-0 Newcastle United H
L 1-3 Real Madrid A (UEFA Champions League)
L 0-2 Liverpool H
Plymouth Argyle:
W 2-1 West Bromwich Albion H
W 1-0 Liverpool H (FA Cup)
W 5-1 Millwall H
L 2-0 Blackburn Rovers A
D 1-1 Luton Town A
D 1-1 Cardiff City H
Top scorers:
Manchester City: Erling Haaland (32)
Plymouth Argyle: Ryan Hardie (11)
Manchester City factfile:
Year founded: 1894
Nickname: City, Citizens
Last season's league finish: 1st in the Premier League
Notable honours:
World Club Championship:
Winners: 2023
European Cup/UEFA Champions League:
Winners: 2023
European Cup Winners' Cup:
Winners: 1970
First Division/Premier League:
Winners: x 10
FA Cup:
Winners: 1904, 1934, 1956, 1969, 2011, 2019, 2023
League Cup:
Winners: 1970, 1976, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Manager: Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola's ascent from Barcelona B Head Coach to UEFA Champions League winner took place against a footballing backdrop very different to the one he has created since joining City.
After graduating from the club's famous La Masia academy as a player, he was a European Cup winner in 1992 under Johan Cruyff, when Barca beat Sampdoria
He won the La Liga title in three of his four seasons at the Camp Nou and lifted the UEFA Champions League twice.
In addition, the Catalan giants won the Supercopa de Espana three times, as well as twice lifting the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.
There were eyebrows raised when he decided to take over at Bayern
Munich in 2013, particularly as they had just won the Champions League
and domestic treble. Nevertheless, Pep led his all-conquering Bayern to the last four of the UEFA Champions
League in each of his three seasons, landing the Bundesliga three times
and winning the league and cup double twice.
On his arrival at the Etihad, Guardiola made a stunning start to life at City, winning his first 11 games in charge and was twice nominated for the Premier League Manager of the Month award in August and September 2016.
In his second season he guided the Blues to the Premier League title and the Carabao Cup, smashing records along the way in a stunning season.
He picked up four successive Manager of the Month awards and was voted the Premier League Manager of the Season and the LMA Manager of the Year.
He was again voted Premier League manager of the year after guiding City to four more trophies in 2018-19 to become the Club’s most successful boss ever with six trophies in three seasons.
City added the Carabao Cup and Community Shield to Pep’s list in 2019/20, but the Catalan won yet more silverware in 2020-21, with another Premier League title and Carabao Cup success.
He also became the first City boss to take his side to a Champions League final in May 2021, taking his trophy haul to ten.
Guardiola‘s incredible spell at the Etihad saw him claim a fourth Premier League title in five years in 2021-22 as well as reaching the Champions League semi-final.
And to top off another history-defining season under Pep's tenure in 2022-23, their
FA Cup final win over Manchester United was followed by our Champions
League final win over Inter saw us named Treble winners, becoming the second manager to achieve the feat with an English club since Sir Alex Ferguson with Manchester United in 1998-99.
The manager continues to take us to new heights as he led the club to their first ever Super Cup victory in their debut appearance in the European showpiece. Cole Palmer‘s equaliser to make it 1-1 against Europa League champions Sevilla sent the game to penalties in which Guardiola‘s side came out victorious.
Pep also won his fourth FIFA Club World Cup in December 2023 as City beat Fluminense 4-0 in Jeddah.
Player to Watch: Phil Foden
Widely regarded as one of England’s most gifted players, Phil Foden excelled at youth level before graduating into the first-team.
After successfully graduating to the first team, Foden produced several impressive displays and made several matchday squads in the early part of the 2017/18 season before departing for the Under-17 World Cup in India.
England won the tournament and Foden was instrumental, scoring twice in the final and scooping the Golden Ball prize for the tournament’s best player. On his return to Manchester, he was handed his senior debut against Feyenoord in the Champions League in November 2017 replacing Yaya Toure in the 75th minute, which saw him become the youngest City player to play in a European competition.
He then went on to make his England debut in September 2020, during a campaign that saw him voted as the PFA Young player of the year for the 2020-21 campaign.
Foden has since added many more honours to his collection, including the Premier League title, an FA Cup winner's medal and a Champions League winner's prize during the 2022-23 season - as City completed the treble.
He also appeared for England in their run to the final of Euro 2024, where they were beaten by Spain in the final.
Old boys:
Manchester City: None
Plymouth Argyle: None
Probable line-ups:
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Stefan Ortega; Rico Lewis, Victor Reis, Ruben Dias, Nico O'Reilly; Rodrigo, Iker Gundogan; Savinho, James McAtee, Phil Foden; Omar Marmoush
Plymouth Argyle (3-4-2-1): Conor Hazard; Maksym Talovierov, Nikola Katic, Julio Pleguezuelo; Matthew Sorinola, Adam Randell, Jordan Houghton, Tymoteusz Puchasz; Michael Baidoo, Callum Wright; Mustapha Bundu:
Last meeting: Saturday 25th February 1989, Manchester City 2 Plymouth Argyle 0
