STAR FOOTBALL PREVIEW Sat: 2025 FA Cup Final

This year’s FA Cup final is going to be a season-defining one for both Crystal Palace and Manchester City, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.

For Palace it’s another chance to win a first trophy in a generation – and a reflection of the progress they’ve made over the last decade or so – whilst for City it’s the last chance to win a trophy in a season that was destroyed by a mid-winter slump, putting serious pressure on Pep Guardiola for the first time in his time there.

Make no mistake, a huge amount is on the line for both clubs and whilst some have pointed fingers at the FA Cup’s perceived lack of importance in recent seasons, victory will be massive for both clubs. Let’s look at both sides in this preview, and don’t miss colleague Joe Citrone’s Point of View on how the competition could be improved from earlier rounds:

POV: Has FA Cup ‘Magic’ Faded? (Joe Citrone)

 

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🦅 Crystal Palace 🦅

The case for:

In the second half of the season, Palace have been a different side to the first, and they arrive here after a dominant, confidence-boosting win at Spurs last time out. Admittedly, Tottenham have been poor all season, but the numbers put up at Spurs (3.39 xG created, won shot count 23-8) were dominant.

Palace are second in a table for the Premier League season – eight points ahead of Manchester City – and have already proven they can handle the pressure when destroying a red-hot Aston Villa side 3-0 in the semi-final. Villa didn’t put their best foot forward, but Palace didn’t let up and their key talents, Isamalia Sarr (scored a goal and two assists), Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eberechi Eze were unplayable.

All three of those can cause City problems, as they have done in both their games this season, and they also have top-tier talents in Adam Wharton and Marc Gheui onside as well. And whilst City have improved, even the most ardent of their fans would tell you it’s not the City side of old.

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The case against:

Palace have lost only four of their last 24 games in all competitions, but one of those defeats – albeit at the Etihad – was a bruising 5-2 defeat to Manchester City, having taken a 2-0 lead to boot. The other defeat, a bruising 5-0 thumping at the hands of Newcastle, was their second against a member of the Big Six and a slight worry ahead of today.

There’s also the issue of bench strength. Palace have assembled a side that can go toe to toe with any side in England, but City’s resources are still nearly unmatched, and the longer the game goes on, the more the benches could have a real impact.

Possible line-up: Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Mateta.
Possible Subs: Chilwell, Hughes, Lerma, Nketiah, Clyne, Devenny, Esse.

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⭐ FA CUP FINAL MARKETS ⭐

Crystal Palace v Manchester City
2025 FA Cup Final
Wembley, London
Kick-Off: 16:30
Live on BBC One HD / ITV 1 HD / iPlayer / ITVX

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
APR 2025 PREMIER LEAGUE Man City 5-2 Crystal Palace
DEC 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE Crystal Palace 2-2 Man City
APR 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE Crystal Palace 2-4 Man City
DEC 2023 PREMIER LEAGUE Man City 2-2 Crystal Palace
MAR 2023 PREMIER LEAGUE Crystal Palace 0-1 Man City

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🔵 Manchester City 🔵

The case for:

City are a different side to the one that literally couldn’t win a game in deep winter, recovering to effectively seal a Champions League spot that once looked at risk and reaching the final of this competition, albeit with a soft draw until the quarter-finals.

Changes made in the January window have worked, with Omar Marmoush adding an effective new edge to the attack and the influence of Nico Gonzalez helping in midfield,. Combined with a return to form for Mateo Kovacic. They’ve also shown resilience to grind out key results and flexibility to find a better balance, especially through the introduction of Jeremy Doku against Everton as an example.

Their bench resources will also be crucial – a likely subs list below contains potential gamechangers – and for all that Palace are unlikely to be fearful of City, they have the experience edge here with several FA Cup wins under their belt and years of experience in big game situations.

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The case against:

This isn’t the Manchester City of old. The midfield is leggier than in the past, the defence can be targeted, and they have missed the influence of Rodri all season. City beat Forest 2-0 in the semi-final but they were lucky that Forest, feeling the fatigue of a long battle for European spots all season, hit the woodwork three times and missed two other big chances.

They were worryingly poor against Southampton, when unable to find a way past a low block despite Jeremy Doku coming on for James McAtee, and striker Erling Haaland, who has just come back from injury, will need to be much sharper than he was last weekend if he’s to justify odds of ? to score anytime with with starsports.bet.

There’s also a number of tactical dilemmas for Guardiola to consider here to boot – City will need more width from the start today, but Palace thrived out wide against Villa and also caused chaos early on at the Etihad down the left-hand side. City have plenty of midfield options but overloading it didn’t work against Southampton last week and more guile will be needed this time.

Possible line-up: 4-2-3-1): Ortega; Lewis, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; B Silva, Kovacic; Foden, De Bruyne, Doku; Haaland.
Possible Subs: O’Reilly, Marmoush, Savinho, Nunes, Gonzalez, Grealish, Gundogan.

Verdict

There’s less between Crystal Palace and Manchester City than the league table would suggest – Palace have been massively improved in the second half of the season and were superb in their semi-final win over Villa – but City managed to overwhelm them, albeit at the Etihad, from 2-0 down and their superior resource and experience could make the difference here.

A poor outing at Southampton in the Premier League is a concern, but it should have taught the Blues plenty from a tactical perspective ahead of today, with Guardiola sure to be aware of the dangers they have going forward. Expect a hotly contested battle at Wembley, but the Blues are strong enough to come out on top, even if they can’t keep Palace quiet through the whole game.

Specials

We can expect Crystal Palace to pack plenty of punch going forward, and their biggest threat may be Eberechi Eze, who is overpriced to score anytime at 7/2 with starsports.bet. Eze scored the opener against City at the Etihad and Villa in the semi-final and has 8 goals in his last 11 games.

City will expect to make Palace work in midfield, and that could mean a risk of cards for their players in the middle of the park, Daichi Kamada was yellow carded in both the recent league meeting with City and the semi-final against Villa, and the 5/2 on him being shown a yellow looks a fair bet.

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