Man City vs Man United FA Cup Final: The stage is set for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola to complete the second task in the pursuit of a treble, they are chasing after the Premier League title. Man City have two major finals, FA Cup and Champions League. It would be a fascinating story for Pep Guardiola if he scripts three trophies in 2022/23. Follow FA Cup LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
It’s the first-ever major European final between Manchester City and Manchester United. Man City had a terrific success in England but they failed to replicate this in FA Cup. Their last FA Cup trophy came in 2011 when they beat Stoke City in the final. Pep Guardiola can complete the trophy cabinet if he wins both major finals in next 8 days.
Man City are writing a dominating story under Pep Guardiola. Their dominance helped them to win three consecutive Premier League titles. They won four out of last five Premier League trophies. The Champions League remains their biggest challenge and most probably, they will achieve this target next week. FA Cup would also be a perfect game to prepare for UCL final against Inter.
Man United have won five out of six FA Cup ties against Man City. They recently won the EFL Cup at Wembley when they ended the drought of trophies since 2017. They also beat Pep Guardiola’s side in the most recent tie at Old Trafford. Erik ten Hag has done a remarkable job in his debut season. He won a silverware for United after 6 years and also helped them to make a return to the Champions League. Man United are not favourites at Wembley but ten Hag is in a different mindset to upset all the odds on June 03.
Pep Guardiola’s side is coming off a 1-0 defeat to Brentford in their last league game. The Bees made a league double over the Cityzens. The defeat would not break Man City’s momentum as the manager benched his key players in this game. City had good numbers against the top-six clubs in English football and they have overcome their city-rivals easily in Premier League.
Both Manchester clubs met at Wembley twice. Man City beat Man United in the FA Cup semifinals 1-0 in 2011. In the same year, Man United avenged the loss by beating them 3-2 in Community Shield. They have appeared 11 times in FA Cup finals before and won six times.
Man City will deal with some injury concerns. Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne, and Ruben Dias’ availability is in doubt. Pep Guardiola will monitor their fitness. Ideally, they will be back for this game. Guardiola said after the loss at Brentford: “We have four or five players with niggles, not big injuries, but they are injuries.”
Apart from the injuries, Nathan Ake and Aymeric Laporte have recovered. They all are fit to play now. Nathan Ake will still be assessed by Pep Guardiola. Jack Grealish was absent due to an unspecified issue against Brentford. He is likely to get fit before the final.
Man City Predicted XI: Ederson, M. Akanji, Rodri, J. Stones, K. Walker, B. Silva, I. Gundogan, K. De Bruyne, P. Foden, E. Haaland, R. Mahrez
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