ALEX CROOK PREVIEW: FA Cup Final

Star Sports ambassador ALEX CROOK looks ahead to the FA Cup final this weekend…

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Manchester City and Chelsea will be out to banish their respective cup final hoodoos when they meet at Wembley on Saturday afternoon, writes ALEX CROOK.

City have been runners-up in each of the last two seasons, going down to arch rivals Manchester United in 2024 before succumbing to a surprise 1-0 loss against Crystal Palace this time last year.

Only one team has ever lost three FA Cup finals in a row – and they will be lining up against Pep Guardiola’s side in north London.

In fact, Chelsea have lost their last six FA and EFL Cup finals, while their recent head-to-head record with City does not inspire confidence they can buck that trend.

The last time Chelsea beat Guardiola’s City was in the 2021 Champions League final in Portugal and they have subsequently lost 10 of the last 13 meetings by an aggregate score of 25-7!

The issue for rookie manager Calum McFarlane is that you never quite know which Chelsea team are going to turn up.

The players put a shift in for McFarlane as they beat Leeds in the semi-final and were the better team for much of last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield.

In between those games they turned in a stinker of a performance to lose at home to Nottingham Forest’s reserves, meaning they might have to win this weekend to secure any form of European football next season.

City, meanwhile, have won eight of their last nine games in all competitions including Wednesday’s comfortable 3-0 win at home to Crystal Palace to keep their faint Premier League title hopes alive.

While McFarlane is bidding to become the first Englishman since Harry Redknapp in 2008 to win the cup, Guardiola is aiming to lift it for a third time.

This could also be Guardiola’s last game at Wembley with growing rumors he will end his trophy-laden City career come what may at the end of the season.

The brilliant Spaniard will want to go out on a high by completing a domestic cup double having beaten Arsenal in the League Cup final.

I expect City to prevail but they are far from watertight at the back so City to win in 90 minutes and both teams to score at 3/1 with starsports.bet looks like a sensible play.

Guardiola was also able to rest a number of key players for that Palace game so the likes of Erling Haaland, Nico O’Reilly and recent star man Jeremy Doko should be fully refreshed and firing.

While Haaland is still to score at Wembley, the national stadium has become Doku’s playground and it was his equaliser that inspired City to come from behind to beat Southampton in their semi-final.

The Belgian also netted in the 2024 defeat to United and has been in blistering form in the Premier League.

Doku to score at any time at 16/5 with starsports.bet looks a cracking bet to me.

I also like the look of Marc Cucurella, who is familiar with the inside of a referee’s notebook, to be shown a card in a double with Moises Caicedo at 5.95/1.

My build-a-bet is City to win, Doku to score at any time, both teams to score and Marc Cucurella to be shown a card, which returns 21/1 with starsports.bet.

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1️⃣ BEST BET: Manchester City to win and both teams to score 1.5pts at 3/1 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
2️⃣ NEXT BEST: Jeremy Doku to score at any time 1pt at 16/5 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
🎲 LONG SHOT: Marc Cucurella and Moises Caicedo to be shown a card 0.5pt at 5.95/1 with starsports.bet
📊 BUILD-A-BET: Manchester City to win, Jeremy Doku to score at any time, both teams to score and Marc Cucurella to be shown a card 0.5pts at 21/1 with starsports.bet

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