Crystal Palace vs Manchester City Preview

Crystal Palace will look to hand Manchester City a second consecutive FA Cup final loss when both sides face off in this season’s final at Wembley this Saturday.

This year’s final features a club that’s never won a major trophy in Crystal Palace, against the country’s most successful side of the last decade. Immortality could therefore await Palace boss Oliver Glasner and his players who’ve strolled into the final, scoring exactly three times in each of the previous three rounds, while conceding just once across their five matches in this season’s competition.

This will be Palace’s third appearance in the FA Cup final, going down to City neighbours Manchester United on both occasions (1990 and 2016). Still, Palace were no pushovers in either final, taking the first to a replay and going to extra-time in the other. Given that five of the last six H2Hs between Palace and City saw both teams score and 4+ total goals, this could be another thriller of a final. However, the Eagles will need to arrest a seven-match winless run in this fixture to write their names in the history books (D3, L4).

Meanwhile, this is extremely familiar territory for Manchester City, who are competing in their third successive FA Cup final (W1, L1). However, they will be looking to right the wrongs of last year’s defeat to arch-rivals United.

Lifting this trophy for an eighth time would not only move them into joint-third for all-time victories in this competition, but provide a sizable boost after a disappointing season by Pep Guardiola’s lofty standards.

City have typically peaked at the right time despite their struggles, stringing together a ten-match unbeaten run (W7, D3) to remain on course for Champions League qualification and silverware under the Wembley arch. While a 0-0 draw with bottom-of-the-league Southampton last weekend was hardly ideal preparation for this showpiece, Guardiola’s serial winners have scored 2+ goals in all five FA Cup outings en route to the final.