Leyton Orient v Manchester City: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Manchester City's season is at a crossroads, with Saturday's FA Cup trip to Leyton Orient preceding the first leg of their UEFA Champions League play-off tie with Real Madrid.

With a relatively short turnaround ahead of Tuesday's match at home to Los Blancos and, with an eye on the return game at the Bernabeu - which falls between Premier League matches against Newcastle United and Liverpool - Pep Guardiola is likely to rotate his squad at Brisbane Road.

While City sit fifth in the Premier League, Orient are sixth in League One and, after recovering from a poor start to the season, saw their run of one defeat in 14 league games ended by last weekend's 1-0 home loss to Stockport county.

It would be reasonable to assume that some of their players will have had an eye on this game, but while they are likely to lose to their Premier League opponents, Richie Wellens' team can do so with credit.

Leyton Orient v Manchester City betting tips and predictions

Manchester City to win and both teams to score - 7/4

Guardiola's side lost last season's final 2-1 to Manchester United, but began their 2024/25 campaign with a glorious 8-0 win over League Two Salford City.

They step up to League One opposition on Saturday and will be aiming to avoid early difficulty as Guardiola tries to restore confidence following last Sunday's shocking 5-1 defeat at Arsenal.

Even with them expected to rotate, it seems improbable that the Citizens will suffer a titanic shock, but their defensive woes at least make them vulnerable to conceding.

January arrival Abdukodir Khusanov is expected to start and it is only fair to expect that he may need time to settle into the game.

Orient to score first is worthy of consideration at 5/1, especially with them likely to burst out of the blocks and press City high up the pitch after seeing them regularly play their way into trouble at the Emirates.

Brisbane Road will be rocking, which will provide Wellens and his players an added level of inspiration but, while they can get a goal, it is likely to come in defeat.

James McAtee anytime goalscorer - 7/5

Midfielder James McAtee is a City player who may have been disappointed not to be allowed to leave in January in search of more first-team minutes.

Brilliant during his two seasons on loan at Sheffield United, he may feel that his career is in a holding pattern, with him good enough to be useful, but not rated enough by Guardiola to be a regular, especially following Omar Marmoush's arrival.

 The FA Cup could be a shop window for McAtee and he certainly took his chance against Salford, netting a second-half hat-trick before continuing his scoring form off the bench in the 6-0 win at Ipswich Town.

McAtee should get a start on Saturday and his ability to find space in front of the O's defence and either unleash a shot or dance through the rearguard makes him a decent candidate to grab another goal in this competition.

Abdukodir Khusanov to be booked - 14/1

This is a value option and potentially a bit harsh, but if he starts Orient will go after Khusanov and put him under pressure.

The Uzbek is clearly a talent, excelling in his 18 months with Lens, but those in football often fail to appreciate how tough it can be for players, especially one who doesn't turn 21 until the end of this month, to adapt to a new country, let alone a new style of football.

Khusanov was caught on the ball early in his debut, last month's 3-1 win over Chelsea but showed enough in the rest of his 54 minutes on the pitch to hint at how good he is.

A comparison could be made between the former Energetik-BGU man and Stefan Savic, who arrived at City as a 20-year-old and, while it didn't work out for him, he went away and developed into arguably Europe's premier central defender during his time at Atletico Madrid.

That is all to come and considering Khuzanov was booked against Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain in his final game with Lens, another card on Saturday seems an excellent choice.

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Leyton Orient v Manchester City odds

Leyton Orient - 22/1
Draw - 17/2
Manchester City - 1/10

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.