After landing the Premier League title by a single point at the weekend, Manchester City travel to Wembley on Saturday knowing that a win over Watford in the FA Cup Final would see them land an unprecedented domestic treble of the League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup. You could even call it a quadruple, as City also landed the Community Shield at the start of the season.
Standing in their way and having qualified for their second FA Cup Final are Watford. Javi Gracia’s men battled through a dramatic semi-final with Wolves at Wembley back in April, scoring a late penalty equaliser in injury time before snatching a win in extra time thanks to Gerard Deulefeu’s strike.
[featured_offer id=”1750″]So what are the chances of Watford causing a massive upset and lifting what would be their first ever FA Cup in victory? Or will the strength and class of Manchester City prove too much and ensure that the Citizens end a record-breaking season by capturing all of the available domestic silverware in England for top division teams?
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Let’s now take a quick look at both the teams competing in the game.
FA Cup Final Preview
Manchester City
Road to Wembley
- 3rd Round – v Rotherham (H) – W 7-0 (Sterling, Foden, Ajayi OG, Jesus, Mahrez, Otamendi, Sane)
- 4th Round – v Burnley (H) – W 5-0 (Jesus, Silva.B, De Bruyne, Long OG, Aguero)
- 5th Round – v Newport County (A) – W 4-1 (Sane, Foden 2, Mahrez)
- Quarterfinals – v Swansea City (A) – W 3-2 (Silva.B, Nordfeldt OG, Aguero)
- Semifinals – Brighton (N) – W 1-0 (Jesus)
Performance This Season
- Charity Shield – Winners – Beat Chelsea 2-0.
- Premier League – 1st – 98 points from 38 games. 95 Goals Scored, 23 Conceded
- Carabao Cup – Winners – Beat Chelsea in the Final on 4-3 Penalties.
- European Competition – Champions League – Quarter Finals – Lost on Away Goals rule to Tottenham (4-4 on aggregate)
Manchester City Squad
- Goalkeepers – Ederson, Arijanet Muric
- Defenders – Benjamin Mendy, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Vincent Kompany, Aymeric Laporte, Kyle Walker, Danilo, John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi
- Midfielders – Fabian Delph, Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan,
- Forwards – Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus, Leroy Sane
Manchester City Probable XI
- GK – Ederson
- Dr – Kyle Walker
- Dl – Oleksandr Zinchenko
- Dc – Vincent Kompany
- Dc – Aymeric Laporte
- DMc – Fernandinho
- Mc – Bernardo Silva
- Mc – David Silva
- AMr – Raheem Sterling
- AMl – Leroy Sane
- Ac – Sergio Aguero
Watford
Road to Wembley
- 3rd Round – v Woking (A) – W 2-0 (Hughes, Deeney)
- 4th Round – v Newcastle United (A) – W 2-0 (Gray, Success)
- 5th Round – v Q.P.R (A) – W 1-0 (Capoue)
- Quarterfinals – v Crystal Palace (H) – W 2-1 (Capoue, Gray)
- Semifinals – v Wolves (N) – W 3-2 (aet) – (Deulofeu 2, Deeney)
Performance This Season
- Premier League – 11th – 50 points from 38 games. 52 Goals Scored, 59 Conceded.
- Carabao Cup – 3rd Round (Lost on 4-2 penalties to Tottenham).
- European Competition – N/A – Did not qualify for European Competition.
Watford Squad
- Goalkeepers – Heurelho Gomes, Ben Foster, Pontus Dahlberg
- Defenders – Jose Holebas, Craig Cathcart, Adam Masina, Daryl Janmaat, Christian Kabasele, Adrian Mariappa, Kiko Femenia, Sebastian Prodl, Miguel Britos, Marc Navarro
- Midfielders – Roberto Pereyra, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Etienne Capoue, Will Hughes, Ken Sema, Nathaniel Chalobah, Tom Clevereley, Domingos Quina
- Forwards – Troy Deeney, Andre Grey, Gerard Deulofeu, Adalberto Penaranda, Isaac Success
Watford Probable XI
- GK – Heurelho Gomes
- Dr – Kiko Femenia
- Dl – Jose Holebas
- Dc – Craig Cathcart
- Dc – Christian Kabasele
- DMC – Abdoulaye Doucoure
- DMC – Etienne Capoue
- AMr – Gerard Deulofeu
- AMl – Roberto Pereyra
- AMc – Will Hughes
- Ac – Troy Deeney
Head to Head Statistics
- Played – 28 games
- Man City Wins – 17
- Watford Wins – 6
- Draws – 5
Manchester City have won all of the last 10 games between the teams stretching back to January 2013. They have scored 32 goals in those games, conceding just 6.
Watford have not beaten Manchester City in any competition since a 1-0 victory at Vicarage Road back in March 1989. They have beaten Manchester City once in six matches in the FA Cup, two of those games being drawn and three ending in Manchester City wins.
The matches between the teams this season finished in a 2-1 win for Manchester City at Vicarage Road back in December and then in March, City won again 3-1, at the Etihad.
FA Cup Final Tips
Is there any possible way Watford could surprise the nation and land a victory on Saturday against this all-conquering Manchester City side that have won all of their last 13 Premier League games to clinch the title by one point and who have rattled in 20 goals in their 5 FA Cup games so far this season?
In the league games between the teams this season, Watford looked dangerous late on in the home game when they were pressing City and if City have looked susceptible of late, it has been from set pieces, something that Watford have proven to be particularly dangerous from in the past. If the Hornets are to score a goal at the weekend, then it is likely a set piece will be the source.
However, given the level of performance that City have reached in recent weeks, it is hard to see how Watford can stop City once they get possession of the ball and back Watford into their own half. City will know if they can strangle the supply to the Watford attackers at source, then they will go a long way to dominating possession and thus the game.
That is how City have steamrollered opponents this season and in truth, it is how I see them winning this game at Wembley by a relatively comfortable margin.
- Man City to win – 1/5
- Man City to win 3-1 – 10/1
- Raheem Sterling to score at any time – Evens
- Man City to win and both teams to score – 7/4
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