By Reece Knox.
Crystal Palace are looking to win the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history, as they aim to engrave their names into Palace folklore. Standing in their way however are perennial winners Manchester City who are aiming to put a disappointing league season, by their usually high standards, behind them and give the captain Kevin De Bruyne a farewell fitting of his City career.
De Bruyne will play in a Man City shirt in a cup final for the final time and Palace will be looking to spoil the farewell of an all-time City great. Many people expect Manchester City to come out on top however Palace have shown a competitive streak against the traditional ‘big six’ clubs this season, particularly away from Selhurst Park, and with a manager like Oliver Glasner they have a man who knows how to win finals having taken Eintracht Frankfurt to Europa League success back in 2022.
Palace will need to be at their solid best to keep out the threats that Manchester City pose, particularly with Erling Haaland back fit in time for this final as well as the likes of De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Savinho and January signing Omar Marmoush. Crystal Palace also carry their own threats, with the likes of Jean-Philippe Mateta being their main man in terms of goals as well as the gifted Eberechi Eze causing problems and the pacy Ismaila Sarr. Palace overcame Aston Villa in the semi-final with a resounding 3-0 victory while City rode their luck at times as they overcame Nottingham Forest 2-0.
Palace have reached the third FA Cup final in their history, losing the other two previous finals to Manchester United in 1990 and 2016, while City have reached their third FA Cup final in a row, having reached the final in each of the previous two seasons, looking to add another FA Cup trophy to their already impressive trophy haul under Pep Guardiola and end the season on a high despite an underwhelming campaign in the Premier League as they relinquished their four year strangle hold on the Premier League title to Liverpool.
As for Palace, this team can cause Manchester City problems, but City have the experience of playing in cup finals and this will mean they might be able to deal with the threat that Palace pose and in Erling Haaland they have a striker who knows how to score. Big games require big players and Haaland unusually has failed to score in any final for City however City have a new star forward in Egyptian Omar Marmoush and in this showpiece game he could announce himself to English football.
Palace need the likes of Eze, Sarr and Mateta to be at their best to cause problems for City and it will be an intriguing cup final for neutral fans. There had been doubts about the availability of Palace midfielder Adam Wharton but Glasner, in his pre-match press conference, confirmed that Wharton is available and had been training all week in a huge boost for the Eagles.
