Manchester City-Manchester United is the final of the 2022-23 FA Cup and it’s played on Saturday at 4pm: line-ups, predictions, TV and streaming.
The FA Cup, whatever the outcome of the Wembley final, will go the way of Manchester. In the historic temple of the Three Lions’ national team, City and United, the two great city rivals, will compete for the most important domestic cup in English football, the second most prestigious and coveted trophy after the Premier League.
Let’s start by saying that there is a clear favourite and it can only be Pep Guardiola’s team, at this moment without any doubt the strongest in the world. The Catalan coach arrives in London in the odour of the Treble, a feat that only Manchester United have managed in the past. That is, to win the league, the FA Cup and the Champions League within a few weeks. De Bruyne and his team-mates, led by the implacable Haaland – the icing on an almost perfect cake that had long been in need of a goal scorer like the Norwegian – have just confirmed themselves as champions of England, a goal that they achieved thanks to an extraordinary comeback against Arsenal, who were overtaken right at the photo finish. Manchester City, however, are just a step away from that goal that has so far always slipped away at the most beautiful moment: to reach the roof of Europe for the first time in their history. That is why Guardiola’s mind, although he does not readily admit it, is already projected towards the final in Istanbul scheduled for next Saturday against Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan. Erik ten Hag’s men, on the other hand, are aiming to upset their cousins’ plans and give them an upset. The former Ajax coach has done well in his first year at the helm of the Red Devils, who have already put a title in their pocket: the League Cup, won in February (again at Wembley) against Newcastle.
Guardiola in Treble odour
Manchester United, despite never fighting for the title, brought home another important goal: qualification for the next Champions League.
Rashford
Despite a slump at the start of May, the Red Devils’ four consecutive victories in the last four days have allowed them to finish in third place, behind Arsenal and City. The Citizens’ long winning streak came to an end just a week ago in a totally irrelevant match against Brentford, who beat a team that had not lost since February (1-0). Manchester City handed United one of the worst defeats in the history of the derby last October, beating their cousins 6-3. United took their revenge in January, retaking City in the last quarter of an hour with Bruno Fernandes and Rashford. The Citizens, who are in the hunt for their seventh FA Cup – the Red Devils have almost twice as many in their trophy cabinet, twelve – should take the field with their starting line-up, although Guardiola is thinking of some rotation. De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Akanji and Grealish are in doubt. The re-established Aké will start from the 1′ instead. On the other side, ten Hah has to give up Lisandro Martinez and Martial, but will recover Antony and Varane.
The prediction
A derby is always a derby. And although there is a clear favourite, the surprise remains around the corner. Manchester City currently play the best football in the world and should be able to lift the cup, but at Wembley Manchester United have no intention of being a spectator. The ‘pole star’ to follow in this case is the goals: there has always been plenty of scoring in this cross-city match lately. And it is very likely that we will witness a spectacular match, in which both will pierce the opponent’s net.
The Manchester City v Manchester United line-up.
- MANCHESTER CITY (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Ruben Dias, Aké; Stones, Rodri; Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Grealish; Haaland.
- MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Lindelof, Shaw; Casemiro, Eriksen; Sancho, Bruno ernandes, Garnacho; Rashford.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1