The FA Cup final will be played at Wembley on the 3rd of June between Manchester United and Manchester City and this one is set to be a cracker.
As the trend has been in recent seasons, Manchester City are the overwhelming favourites to win their seventh FA Cup trophy but Manchester United have done remarkably well under Erik ten Hag this campaign and they have already beaten them once this season.
We take a look at some of the key statistics for the FA Cup final:
Head-to-head:
Man United wins – 14
Draw – 4
Man City wins – 16
Recent form:
Manchester United: WWWWL
Manchester City: LDWWW
FA Cup final odds:
Man United to win – 5.5
Man City to win – 1.53
Key points:
This is going to be a home game for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in their previous 20 home games.
Man United have beaten City only once in their previous five meetings and that was their 2-1 win back in January.
In their previous four meetings, Manchester United have conceded 13 goals at the hands of City.
Injuries:
Manchester City:
Ruben Dias – Discomfort – Should be fit.
Manuel Akanji – Physical exhaustion – Should be fit.
Jack Grealish – Physical exhaustion – Should be fit.
Manchester United:
Tom Heaton – Ankle injury – Ruled out.
Marcel Sabitzer – Knee injury – Ruled out.
Lisandro Martinez – Foot injury – Ruled out.
Van de Beek – Knee injury – Ruled out.
Antony – Ankle injury – Ruled out.
Possible formations for the FA Cup final:
Manchester City’s manager has recently relied on a 3-2-4-1 system and he’s going to stick to this at Wembley as well. Nathan Ake has returned from injury so there’s no risk in using a three-man central defence.
Erik ten Hag, on the other hand, has hardly experimented with his formations, largely using a 4-2-3-1 with Casemiro and Eriksen playing as the midfield pivot. However, with Antony expected to miss out with an ankle ETH could push Bruno Fernandes out on the right wing which will allow Fred to come into midfield and push Eriksen in the No 10 role.
Important update:
Aslef trade union has announced that train drivers will be striking on the 3rd of June and this is the same date when the FA Cup final is going to be played.
This strike is going to cause disruption for both sets of Manchester fans because they will have to either travel by road or will have to reach London the previous night.
