Norwich vs. Manchester City: Winners and Losers from FA Cup

Norwich City will this weekend welcome Premier League rivals Manchester City to Carrow Road, with the two teams taking time out form their league campaigns to take part in The FA Cup third round.

Pellegrini will be confident that his side can overturn that deficit in front of their own fans, but progress in the FA Cup would act as an insurance policy in the quest for silverware should the Toffees hold out.

Sergio Aguero put the visitors ahead in the 16th minute before laying the ball off for Kelechi Iheanacho to double their lead with an accurate finish in the 31st minute.

Signing cover during the January transfer window is an option but Pellegrini says that is unlikely.

Eventually the Premier League title contenders found a way through as a cute back heel from Raheem Sterling found Aguero, who beat four men with a surging run before stabbing a finish beyond Ruddy.

Having suffered disappointment in the League Cup on Wednesday night, this FA Cup tie holds even more importance for Manuel Pellegrini.

What is not up for discussion is how important Argentina forward Aguero and his fitness is to City’s quadruple hopes.

“Maybe the first game he didn’t play so well”. The Canaries have been knocked out in the third round in both of the last two seasons and have scored only one goal in their last four appearances in the competition.

“It is important to try to win every game because that gives you an ambitious mind, a winning mind, and a lot of things that for me are very important”. “We need to keep him fit until the end of the season, and then you can analyse who was the best striker in the Premier League and the best player in the world”.

Norwich have won just one of their last 11 meetings with Man City in all competitions, losing eight of those.

“When Kun continues playing games and playing more minutes, his performance always improves after he comes back from a long injury”, Pellegrini said.

“We’ve got to brush this off, that’s what I will be doing and the team will be doing”.

While it’s hard to attribute that to one player, there is a clear correlation between City’s upturn and Gary O’Neil’s return to the side.