A huge game for both sides. Here’s a preview with ManchesterWorld’s Michael Plant and Rich Fay.
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00:00 Michael, Rich, obviously the FA Cup final approaching the same fixture as last, obviously
00:06 that the Manchester derby hadn't been in the final before last year, you know, ever. And
00:11 it obviously ended with Manchester City scraping through in the end. Michael, they are the
00:16 winners of this. They're staring down a double this season. Obviously, they were on the way
00:20 to a treble last time. But, you know, Pep Guardiola doesn't like to settle, is the sort
00:27 of case he's made. Going into this one, how is City feeling now? Because it seems like
00:34 they're going to go all guns blazing and just try and get it over the line.
00:37 Yeah, I mean, before I answer that, Manchester, there's never been a Manchester derby in an
00:43 FA Cup final. Then Manchester World comes along and now we've had two in three years.
00:47 I mean, is that a coincidence? I don't know. But yeah, no, I mean, City, as you just said,
00:53 obviously coming into this game at a real high. Won the title last week and are in really
00:58 good form. They've won nine in a row in the Premier League. They're unbeaten in 35 games
01:04 in all competition. That's a record ever for a Premier League team. I mean, the record
01:09 for a top flight side is 40 back in the 70s. So, you know, they're looking to take another
01:14 game closer to that record, I think. And they've got real confidence, I think, going into this
01:19 game. They have a good record against Manchester United. I know, obviously, United did beat
01:25 them once last season, but I mean, they've won. They've beaten both times this season.
01:30 They won the FA Cup final last season and, as I mentioned, come into it in really good
01:35 form. United's form is sticky at best. I know they obviously did win the last two games
01:41 of the season, but there have been some pretty unconvincing performances in there. And City,
01:46 the way they're playing, I mean, not only are they playing well, they're not really
01:49 giving sides a sniff at the moment, which I think is important going into this game.
01:53 And they're used to the big stage, the big spotlight. They, you know, they didn't blink
01:58 really in the tight race. They went all the pressures on them. And Guardiola knows that
02:03 he has another opportunity to make history this weekend. They can become the first team
02:07 ever to win the double in back-to-back season. So it's another little, you know, carrot dangled
02:12 in front of them if they need one. But I think it's going to be a Manchester City victory
02:17 this weekend, in my opinion.
02:19 And Rich, looking from a Manchester United point of view, obviously, you know, go back
02:25 12 months and it was sort of coming off the back of a decent season for Eric Tenag's side.
02:30 Now it's almost going into this one as a bit of a saving grace if he could possibly be
02:35 his final game in charge of Manchester United. And can he get that win over the line? How
02:41 is, you know, the general feel around the club going into this one?
02:45 I think there is a little bit of a siege mentality really at the moment. I mean, when you think
02:49 about United and FA Cup wins, you can either think sort of Mark Robbins saving Sir Ax Ferguson's
02:53 job by winning the FA Cup. Or you think Louis van Gaal, who won the FA Cup, wins Saks, what,
02:58 two days later. So you still think it could go either way. I think in terms of Ten Hag,
03:03 Ineos will have already probably seen enough to make their mind up if they are going to
03:07 keep him or part of him. But from United's point of view, I do think that there is, you
03:12 know, there's always going to be that belief that they can get one over City really. And
03:16 it's just weird because it is role reversal that 20 years ago City would always fancy
03:21 their chances against United because it's a derby and they're the underdogs and they've
03:24 been written off. And so many of City's most famous derby wins came when they were the
03:30 underdogs. So from United's point of view as well, we might say, look, they are miles
03:34 and miles behind City, but eighth in the Premier League against first in the Premier
03:37 League isn't maybe the gulf that we've seen in derbies before. You know, when City have
03:42 been much lower in the Premier League and that have been winning the titles themselves.
03:45 So I think United are going to try and be as positive and optimistic as they can be.
03:50 But the realistic point of view is, look, United have been so bad for so often this
03:54 season. They've been very lucky to even get to the final, of course, how they beat Coventry.
03:59 We saw as well in the derby matches City's class just shone really. But under that Wembley
04:05 arch, you never know. And United will go there with some belief. They're not going to be
04:10 going there defeatist whatsoever. They really want to try and salvage their season. So it's
04:14 a really compelling game. But as Michael said, City are the heavy favourites for it.
04:19 And Michael, going into this one in terms of Manchester City, obviously losing Edison
04:24 in the game against Spurs. Is he back? Is he out now? Is there any sort of team update
04:30 that you can issue before this final?
04:32 Yeah, I mean, Edison's not going to be back. He broke his eye socket in that game against
04:37 Spurs. So he's not going to play. But Stefan Ortega is going to play in nets. He's a very
04:42 capable replacement. He's played really well for City when called upon this season. Made
04:46 that big save against Son, what was it, last week. So yeah, I don't think that'll be a
04:51 huge blow for City. I think really coming into the big question mark is whether they
04:57 refer back to Mateo Kovacic, who played really well for the last couple of weeks of the season,
05:02 but then was dropped at the weekend against West Ham. I think that when you, I think the
05:08 way that he set up at the weekend with Doki out left obviously gives you a bit more kind
05:12 of explosiveness, a bit more penetration in the wide areas and probably a little bit less
05:18 control I would say when Doku plays out wide and you've got them. Yeah, he just loses the
05:25 ball more often because he's so direct. So I think that'll be the question. I mean, Jack
05:28 Grealish is an option as well to come in if he wants to basically set up the same as the
05:33 weekend but have a bit more control in those areas. And yeah, I think that's the big kind
05:37 of dilemma for Guardiola. I think we can probably pick 10 if they start in 11. It's just that
05:42 last one. I think it'll be one of Kovacic, Doku, Grealish will be the concern. And I
05:48 mean, just quickly on what we were talking about there, I'm slightly off camera. I think
05:52 the interesting thing from a United perspective is they've obviously set up pretty well, haven't
05:55 they, the last derby in terms of making it relatively tight. They obviously went in the
05:59 last 20 minutes still in the game. They kept it pretty tight against Arsenal and they have
06:04 been very open at times this season, United, but I do wonder whether the approach they've
06:07 shown in those last couple of games, whether they can make it a little bit tighter, as
06:11 I say, in going into the Wembley final. But my money's still on City personally.
06:15 Yeah, like Michael said there, I mean, last two games United have won, they played with
06:19 a false nine. And we saw that false nine in the Etihad game where United took the shock
06:23 lead for Rashford's thunderbolt. They fell short in the end. The quality wasn't there,
06:28 but there were some individual errors. So, you know, if you got rid of them, there would
06:31 be a fair chance of doing it. United as well last season, 10 hard points towards this win
06:35 over Man City at home is one of the best moments of his tenure so far. That was another game
06:40 in which United played with a false nine. They caused City lots of problems. So I guess
06:45 that is the dilemma. Hoyland's his guy up top. Can you really drop him for the FA Cup
06:49 final? But if it's for the greater good of the team, I wouldn't be surprised if Bruno
06:53 Fernandes led the line for United this weekend. In terms of the other selection issues, has
06:58 Amad done enough to secure a start on the right wing? I think his poor performance at
07:02 Brighton might just lose him that berth. It's between him or Rashford for that final attacking
07:06 spot alongside Alejandro Garnacho. And in defence, United will be hoping that Varane
07:11 is fit enough to partner Martinez. They've only been able to use that partnership five
07:14 times all season and lots of people would say that is their best back four. And then
07:19 you get to midfield. Casemiro, much better at Brighton. Moving him into midfield will
07:23 give you that sort of anchor that you require. So United's point of view, I think they will
07:27 adopt the sort of counterattacking Olig on a sole-shot ball, really a homage to him.
07:31 It's probably their best way of beating Pep this weekend.