Wembley Stadium plays host to the 144th FA Cup Final on Saturday when seven-time winners Manchester City meet twice runners-up Crystal Palace (16:30 BST kick-off), in a game live on BBC1 and ITV1.
It is City’s third FA Cup final in three seasons and even though they have been deposed as Premier League champions in 2024/25, Pep Guardiola’s men are still strong favourites.
But Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace made light work of Champions League side Aston Villa in the semi-finals, have been massive improvers as the season has gone on and will be hoping to make it third time lucky after two previous final defeats.
Tip 1: Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 goals @ 21/20 with CopyBet
A disappointing season at City can end on a high if they can lift the FA Cup trophy on Saturday evening but they will not be expecting to brush aside Palace at Wembley.
The Eagles are one of the season’s most improved sides over the last few months, swatting aside decent Premier League opponents Fulham and Aston Villa – 3-0 on each occasion – to reach just their third final.
Glasner’s men have lost only two of their last 15 matches, though one of those was 5-2 at The Etihad against City.
Indeed, goals are generally plentiful when these teams go toe to toe and it would be no surprise if they laid on a treat at the Venue of Legends.
Each of the last four Premier League meetings between these sides has produced four goals or more. Neither side has scored less than twice in any of those games.
Tip 2: Player Gets Card – Daichi Kamada @ 15/4 with CopyBet
The template for the game is a typical one with City keeping the ball and Palace looking to do special things in transition with pace then to burn in attack.
Palace’s midfielders are critical in shutting City’s ball players down and that means a big role for Daichi Kamada, who has become an integral part of the Eagles’ engine room.
In last month’s 5-2 loss at Manchester City in the league, Kamada made two of the 16 fouls committed by Palace and was rewarded with a yellow card.
Once again his timing and commitment will be tested by Kevin de Bruyne and co, and the Japan international looks a fair call to pick up another card, for what would be a fourth in eight games.
Tip 3: To win the trophy – Crystal Palace @ 2/1 with CopyBet
As for the outcome, there is no doubt that underdogs Palace have an outstanding chance of landing the honours.
Clearly City are a very good side and are currently on a 10-match unbeaten run – a sequence which includes wins over the likes of Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest, Villa and Palace.
But they are not an exceptional side any more, and many teams – Palace among them – have narrowed the gap.
Last season, Palace trailed City home by 42 points; this term, with two games left, the gap is just 16.
Palace, critically, have a trio of top-class match-winners in attack in Jean-Philippe Mateta, Ebe Eze and Ismaila Sarr and should fancy their chances to spring a big Cup Final upset.
