The 142nd FA Cup final will see a Manchester derby take centre stage for the first time beneath the famous arch of Wembley Stadium as treble-chasing Manchester City lock horns with bitter rivals and EFL Cup winners Manchester United this afternoon.
While the Citizens are seeking to lift England’s oldest trophy for the seventh time in their history, the Red Devils are hoping to get their hands on the prestigious prize for a 13th time.
Four years on from winning the first-ever domestic quadruple in English football, history beckons once again for Man City as they endeavour to become the first English team since rivals Man United in 1998-99 to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season.
The Citizens already have one trophy in the bag after clinching the top-flight title for a third successive year and for a fifth time in six seasons, with Pep Guardiola’s side ending the Premier League campaign five points clear of their nearest challengers Arsenal.
With one eye on their pursuit of the treble, a much-rotated City side were beaten 1-0 at Brentford in their final league fixture of the season last Sunday, a result that ended their exceptional 25-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
Nevertheless, Guardiola has wisely managed the minutes of his first-team stars over the last two weeks and hopes they have taken his advice on briefly ‘disconnecting’ from the rigours of their hectic schedule in preparation for today’s behemoth battle with their bitter rivals.
A journey to Istanbul for a Champions League showpiece event with Inter Milan awaits in a weeks’ time, but Man City’s focus is now on the FA Cup and their 12th final in the competition. The Citizens have won six and lost five of their previous 11 FA Cup finals, most recently romping to a remarkable 6-0 victory over Watford in 2019 – the joint-largest winning margin in cup final history.
Man City have seen off Chelsea, Arsenal, Bristol City, Burnley and Sheffield United – beating the latter 3-0 in the semi-finals courtesy of a Riyad Mahrez hat-trick – to book their Wembley appearance, with Guardiola’s side yet to concede in this year’s competition; only Preston North End in 1889 and Bury in 1903 have ever won the FA Cup without conceding a single goal.
The Citizens, who are also the highest scorers in this season’s FA Cup with 17 goals, have a perfect record in major domestic cup finals under Guardiola – winning five in total since his arrival in 2016 – although they have lost four of their last six visits to Wembley and have failed to score in three of those.
The carrot of FA Cup glory against Man United to boost their treble hopes is certainly alluring, but Man City will not take their opponents lightly today after losing 2-1 at Old Trafford in the most recent derby showdown in January.
Indeed, Man United enter their 21st FA Cup final – the joint-most of any team in the competition’s history along with Arsenal – in buoyant mood after winning their last four Premier League matches to secure third place and Champions League football for next season, albeit finishing 14 points behind champions Man City.
The Red Devils followed up an emphatic 4-1 home victory over Chelsea a week last Thursday with a 2-1 final-day win against Fulham last Sunday, with goals from Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes turning the game on its head after Kenny Tete had opened the scoring.
After beginning the 2022-23 campaign with harrowing losses to Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford back in August, few would have envisaged Man United bouncing back in such impressive fashion, and after guaranteeing a top-four finish, Erik ten Hag is seeking to steer the club to their first-ever domestic cup double.
The Dutchman ended United’s six-year trophy drought by guiding his team to EFL Cup glory at the end of February, beating Newcastle United 2-0 at Wembley, and the Red Devils will certainly take great pleasure in halting Man City’s pursuit of the treble by winning the FA Cup today.
Man United are competing in their first FA Cup final for five years after successfully navigating their way past Everton, Reading, West Ham United, Fulham and Brighton, winning their first four ties by a 3-1 scoreline before eliminating the Seagulls in a nerve-racking penalty shootout following a goalless semi-final draw after 120 minutes.
The Red Devils last had their hands on the FA Cup in 2015-16 when they required extra time and a late Jesse Lingard winner to beat Crystal Palace 2-1, two years before losing 1-0 to Chelsea in their most recent final in the competition.
Only Arsenal (14) have ever won the FA Cup on more occasions than Man United (12), although the latter do hold an unwanted record for the joint-most defeats (eight) in the competition’s showpiece event along with both Chelsea and Everton.
Man United will, on this rare occasion, head into Saturday’s final as slight underdogs having lost three of their last four derby clashes with Man City by an aggregate score of 12-4, including a heavy 6-3 Premier League defeat earlier this season.
However, they can take some inspiration from their FA Cup head-to-head record with the Citizens as they have won five of the last six meetings with their noisy neighbours, most recently winning 3-2 away from home in January 2012 – the only exception being a 1-0 semi-final loss at Wembley in 2010-11.
FA CUP FACT BOOK
Who gets what?
Whoever wins the showdown between City and United will earn £2million. With that being said, it isn’t all doom and gloom for the runners-up, who will pocket £1m.Both City and United have already earned well over £1m in the lead-up to this weekend’s final. In winning their semi-final games alone, both teams earned £1m.
When is the FA Cup final?
This year’s FA Cup final between City and United will take place on Saturday, June 3, with kick-off at 3pm (4:00pm Nigerian time). The final between the two teams is set to be played at Wembley Stadium.
Manchester City fans may be confident heading into the game. The side have won three of the last five meetings with United. Erik ten Hag’s side won the last encounter back in January, with Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford scoring in a 2-1 win.
BLUE CORNER
Haaland wants nothing but Man City’s treble
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has said he “will do everything” to help the club to a historic Treble.
City have won this season’s Premier League and can add to that if they beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final this afternoon and Inter Milan in the Champions League final on 10 June.
United won each of those trophies in 1999 and are the only English club to have done such a Treble.
“It would be unreal to make this history,” said 22-year-old Haaland.
Despite City’s domestic dominance, they are yet to win the Champions League and Haaland hopes he can be the missing piece to secure success in European football’s biggest tournament.
“This is why they bought me of course, to get this, we don’t have to hide that,” Haaland told BBC sports editor Dan Roan.
“It would mean everything. I will do everything I possibly can to try to make it happen. It’s my biggest dream and hopefully dreams do come true.”
He added: “But as well it’s not easy – it’s two finals against two good teams that will do everything they can to try to destroy that.
“They will be motivated, they will be ready and we have to play at our best, because if we play at our best we have a really good chance of achieving exactly that.”
City overtook Arsenal this season to win a third Premier League title in a row under manager Pep Guardiola.
“We’ve been chasing the whole season so when we won the Premier League it was a big relief,” said Haaland, who scored 36 top-flight goals this season.
“Now we’ve got two finals left and now the only thing we can focus on is these two finals before the vacation.”
Haaland has had a stunning first season in English football since joining City from Borussia Dortmund last summer.
RED CORNER
Fernandes tips United to stop City’s quest for treble
Erik Ten Hag has set high standards at Manchester United this season, but Bruno Fernandes might be even more demanding.
After watching his team beat Chelsea 4-1 to add a top-four finish to the Carabao Cup, Ten Hag declared his first year at Old Trafford as a success. Fernandes, though, disagrees. And he won’t change his mind even if United beat Manchester City at Wembley today and lift the FA Cup.
“For this club, a successful season is winning the league, winning the Champions League, winning big trophies because the past of this club, the history of this club, is big,” said Fernandes in an interview with ESPN. “The big target in the league is winning it.
“It was a good season but not a successful one because success is winning. We are now building something we see can be special in the future.”
The target, ultimately, is City. They have won the Premier League title in five of the last six years and reached two of the last three Champions League finals. It’s a level of dominance United used to enjoy under Sir Alex Ferguson and hope, one day, to achieve again. There are some at Old Trafford who choose to shy away from the comparisons with their city rivals, but not Fernandes. “We want to win the league and that’s what they did this season,” he said.
“City has done this so, yeah, they are the team to beat, we can say that because they won. City are probably the team that is playing the best football for so many years. They’ve been consistent with that and they deserve to be in this place because they’ve been really good.”
This season, City have been too good. The title is already in the bag and if they win against United in the FA Cup and then Inter Milan in the Champions League, they will complete the treble — a feat only achieved once before in English football by Ferguson’s United in 1999.
Ahead of the FA Cup final, United fans are split on the biggest motivation for winning the game. Is it simply to win the trophy, or would there be more joy in stopping City from winning it and, with it, ruining any chance of the treble?