A whole squad cheaper than Matteo Darmian - how Bristol City and United match up

City lie third in the Championship, four points outside the automatic promotion places and with their sights fixed on the big time - but the comparison between the two squads spells out the task facing them.

And, while United may not field a first-choice line-up in a competition in which they have typically made changes, City are without a couple of key players in record signing Famara Diedhiou and Republic of Ireland winger Callum O'Dowda.

That leaves defenders Bailey Wright and Hordur Magnusson as the only players with international experience in the Robins' likely line-up - Wright has played 21 times for Australia while Magnusson has recently established himself in Iceland's line-up and has 15 caps.

And without £5.3million Senegal forward Diedhiou, as well as £1m-plus signing O'Dowda, manager Lee Johnson is likely to choose from a squad of players signed for reported fees totalling around £11.5m.

United full-back Matteo Darmian, signed from Torino for a reported £12.7m in 2015 and with 36 caps for Italy, matches up with City's entire available selection in those two categories.

The 28-year-old is by no means a key man in Jose Mourinho's squad - indeed, it would be possible for Mourinho to select a back five in which Darmian was the cheapest acquisition, with VIctor Lindelof, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo at centre-back and Luke Shaw or Daley Blind on the left.

United's starting XI against Swansea in the previous round counted 272 caps for their countries and cost over £140m to assemble.

The three substitutes used by Mourinho on that occasion - Shaw, Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku - cost as much again and there could be further power to add this time around.

There have been suggestions pre-match that Henrikh Mkhitaryan, signed for a reported £26m from Borussia Dortmund, could be handed an increasingly rare chance to impress and that £89m France star Paul Pogba could feature in midfield having served a three-match suspension.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is another player thought to be in contention - the striker was signed on a free transfer, but has 116 caps for Sweden and has won league titles in Italy, Spain, France and Holland.