Raphael Durand
Dailysports's expert
The decisive FA Cup clash between Crystal Palace and Manchester City is set to take place on May 17 at the iconic Wembley Stadium in London. Here’s my tip for the outcome of this showdown, with promising odds for success.
Match preview
The Eagles have confidently navigated their path to the FA Cup final, claiming victories in all five rounds of the tournament. In the opening three stages, they easily dispatched lower-division sides, but the last two rounds saw them face Premier League opposition.
Even then, Oliver Glasner’s men left no chance for their rivals, keeping clean sheets throughout. First, they thrashed Fulham 3-0 away, and then put in another commanding performance at Wembley to defeat Aston Villa by the same scoreline. This marks just the third FA Cup final in club history (the previous appearance was in 2016).
Man City have now reached the FA Cup final for a third consecutive season. Last time out, the Citizens were beaten in the decisive match by Manchester United (1-2), but in the 2022/23 season, Pep Guardiola’s side claimed the trophy with the same scoreline. In this year’s tournament, City, like their Crystal Palace counterparts, have come through all five rounds without losing in regular time.
City started the campaign against lower-tier opposition, and in the later rounds overcame Bournemouth away (2-1) before confidently dispatching Nottingham Forest at Wembley (2-0). Overall, City have won 16 of their last 17 FA Cup ties, underlining their status as one of the competition’s top favourites.
Probable line-ups
- Crystal Palace: Dean Henderson – Marc Guéhi, Maxence Lacroix, Tyrick Mitchell, Daniel Muñoz, Chris Richards – Jefferson Lerma, Daichi Kamada, Eberechi Eze – Ismaïla Sarr, Jean-Philippe Mateta
- Manchester City: Ederson – Rico Lewis, Joško Gvardiol, Manuel Akanji, Rúben Dias – Mateo Kovačić, Bernardo Silva – Kevin De Bruyne, James McAtee, Phil Foden – Erling Haaland
Match facts and head-to-head
- In this season’s home fixture, the Eagles drew with Manchester City (2-2), but suffered a heavy 2-5 defeat at the Etihad
- The ‘Over 3.5 goals’ bet has paid out in the last 4 meetings between these teams
- The ‘Both teams to score’ market has landed in each of the last 4 encounters between these clubs
Prediction
Bookmakers make Manchester City favourites for this match, offering odds of around 1.84 for the win. We believe that the Citizens, despite an underwhelming season, will claim victory here, but don’t expect a goal fest. Our tip: Manchester City to win.
