The most exciting encounter of the FA Cup fifth round will be staged Sunday evening at the Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Manchester City.
Chelsea have been having a disastrous English Premier League title defence campaign and therefore will set their eyes on the FA Cup silverware which they had last won on 2012, when the Blues beat Liverpool at the Wembley Stadium.
Chelsea have somehow steadied their Premier League season after Guus Hiddink took over from Jose Mourinho last December. Ever since then, Chelsea have lost just one game and that was against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the last week midweek UEFA Champions League round-of-16 first-leg fixture.
"I will make hardly any changes because we take the FA Cup very seriously. Winning the FA Cup is a prestigious prize in England but also worldwide," Hiddink was quoted as saying by IBTimes UK edition.
Manchester City are coming into this fixture on the back of two back-to-back defeats in the Premier League at the hands of league-leaders Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur, and that too at the Etihad Stadium.
However, City have never lost an away game in the past six years in the FA Cup and will look to build on that statistic.
The fixtures for the Blues of Manchester have not been according to their likings. After this FA Cup fifth-round tie against Chelsea, Manuel Pellegrini and his boys will have to fly to Dynamo Kiev to play the first leg of the Champions League round-of-16. If City can manage to outclass the Blues at the Stamford Bridge on Sunday, it will give them a major boost ahead of their Champions League clash against Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday.
Manchester City have a number of injury concerns to deal with on Sunday. Joe Hart and Vincent Kompany are likely to be sidelined due to injuries. Pellegrini is likely to rest David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure.
"We have just 13 (senior) players available to play. We have to play Champions League on Wednesday. We'll see the best team we can play on Sunday. Young players have the option and they must take their chances," Pellegrini said.
"For me the priority is always the next game but we must make an exception now because of so many injuries. We never think about four trophies — we go game by game."
Chelsea on the other hand will miss their captain John Terry and Kurt Zouma.
Squads:
Chelsea: Begovic; Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Cahill, Baba; Mikel, Fabregas; Traore, Willian, Hazard; Costa.
Manchester City: Caballero; Zabaleta, Otamendi, Demichelis, Clichy; Fernando, A Garcia; Sterling, M Garcia, Celina; Iheanacho.
Where to Watch Live
Chelsea vs Manchester City is set to begin at 9:30 p.m. IST (4 p.m. GMT, 11 a.m. ET). Live coverage of the FA Cup fifth round match in India will be on Sony Six and Sony Six HD. Sonyliv is the live-streaming online option for viewers in India and the rest of South Asia.
There will be no live telecast of this match in UK. BBC Radio is the radio option for fans in England.
ESPN will broadcast the match live in Australia, with the live stream option on ESPN Player.
Viewers in the US can watch Chelsea vs Manchester City live on Fox Sports 2, while the action can be live-streamed on FoxSoccer2Go. Sportsnet World and Watch Sportsnet will broadcast the FA Cup game live in Canada.
Viewers in Singapore can flip their remotes to Eleven, while Chelsea vs Manchester City will be shown live in China and Hong Kong on LeTV.
Bein Sports will broadcast the match live in the Middle East, France and North Africa, with the live-streaming option on Bein Sports Connect.
Chelsea TV will provide the option of live streaming of the FA Cup fifth round tie against Manchester City worldwide.
