Sheffield United star sends warning to “best in world” Man City ahead of Wembley day out

Oli McBurnie has warned Manchester City that his Sheffield United side will make things as difficult as they possibly can for Pep Guardiola’s superstars in the FA Cup semi-final next month, despite describing them as “the best team in the world”.

The Blades booked their place in the last four of the famous old cup competition by beating Blackburn Rovers at Bramall Lane on Sunday, with Tommy Doyle’s injury-time screamer booking United’s place at Wembley after a dramatic 3-2 victory over their Championship rivals.

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The semi-final draw was the worst possible for United, pitting them against a rampant City side who not only beat Championship leaders Burnley 6-0 in the quarter-finals, but are also the parent club of two of United’s key men in young loanees Tommy Doyle and James McAtee – rendering them ineligible for the Blades’ big day out at Wembley.

Speaking on the BBC earlier this week, McBurnie was asked about the semi-final draw and couldn’t help but contain his laughter. “It’ll be a good day out, I’m sure,” he added.

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“It’s a tough game, obviously; playing the best team in the world, in my opinion. I really think that. It’ll be good. We’ve played them a few times a couple of years ago [in the Premier League] and we were always in the game and made it interesting.

“It’ll be a great day out for the fans, and we’ll be there to make it as tough for City as possible.”

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Indeed, during United’s two-year spell in the Premier League, their biggest margin of defeat to City was a 2-0 loss at the Etihad in December 2019 – a game shrouded in controversy after Lys Mousset had a goal ruled out by VAR, and referee Chris Kavanagh got in John Fleck’s way and allowed Sergio Aguero to break away and score.

Three 1-0 defeats followed, suggesting United will not be overawed by the prospect of facing City after working so hard to reach the final four with a dramatic victory over their Championship rivals, Rovers.

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“It was probably the draw we wanted [against Blackburn] in terms of getting through to the next round,” McBurnie, who scored United’s equaliser at 2-2 before Doyle’s injury-time screamer, added. “We’d played them a couple of weeks before and we weren’t really at the races that day, so it was one we thought was a good one to get them back.

“It was a good occasion and I thought the boys were excellent. People have told me how fun the game was as a neutral to watch, so it’s always good to entertain as well.”

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