FA Cup: Can the Eagles Leave City’s Trophy Haul Empty?

Crystal Palace vs Manchester City

The oldest cup competition in world football takes centre stage on Saturday as Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City take on Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace in the 2025 FA Cup final. 

The eyes of the world will be on Wembley Stadium when the Sky Blues meet the Eagles with the expectation being that Guardiola’s men, after a season of disappointment, can pick up some silverware. But in no way will this be a one sided affair as, while City are under considerable pressure to open their trophy cabinet they meet a team bang in form and able to take on the very best on their day. 

Manchester City saw off Nottingham Forest in their semi-final thanks to a goal in either half from Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol, while Palace knocked out high-flying Aston Villa 3-0 with a brace from Ismaila Sarr. The Eagles haven’t won a trophy since they were Championship champions in 1994 and the South of London will be at a standstill as their hoards of passionate fans try to will them on to an historic first FA Cup triumph. 

The FA Cup 2025 betting odds say the Blue Moon will be rising over Wembley Stadium on Saturday at a price of 1.34 with the Eagles priced at 3.08 to swoop and cause an upset. And the underdogs do come into the game with a boost having won away to Tottenham Hotspur last week while City drew 0-0 with Premier League bottom club Southampton.   

 

Talking Points

Will the last De Bruyne and Haaland show be a winner?

A Manchester City legend will take his bow at Wembley on Saturday as midfield ace Kevin De Bruyne is set to leave the Etihad at the end of the 2024/25 season. He has been beset by injuries over the past year or so, and made a slow start to this current campaign, but the Belgian maestro has been one of the most prolific players on the planet over the last decade and City fans would love to see him start on Saturday. De Bruyne has lifted the FA Cup twice with the Sky Blues, as part of his 19 trophy haul, and he has made more goal contributions in the competition than any other player since his arrival in England, scoring ten goals and making 18 assists in 32 appearances. 

Napoli are chasing De Bruyne’s signature and Liverpool have recently emerged as an interested party and I can imagine that would be a blow to City fans; but they will hope their man goes out with a bang. And the Belgian’s departure will signal the end of one of the most lethal combinations in football; he has laid on countless goals, with incredible precision, for City’s goal machine Erling Braut Haaland. The big Norwegian returned to action in the 0-0 draw with Southampton last weekend and, while he had virtually no impact, it’s difficult to see Guardiola starting without him; though that would be harsh on Omar Marmoush, who has impressed hugely since his arrival in January.  

 

The Eagles are full of confidence

Crystal Palace come into the final as clear underdogs but they are brimming in confidence after flying through to the FA Cup final and climbing up to 12^th in the Premier League table with a superb run of results since the turn of the year. The 2-0 win over Spurs last weekend gave the Eagles their highest ever Premier League points total of 49, and a first top flight double over Tottenham.

Eberechi Eze was man-of-the-match with a brace and he scored Palace’s goal in a recent clash with this season’s surprise package, Nottingham Forest, which ended in a draw. Eze is sure to make his fair share of FA Cup 2025 highlights on Saturday; he scored the Eagles’ third in the semi-final win over Aston Villa and that took him up to three for the competition alongside Sarr, while Eddie Nketiah has two.

As well as beating Villa and Spurs recently, Glasner’s team has lately drawn 2-2 with Arsenal… so this is a team to treat with the utmost respect.      

 

History

With 23 wins to six Manchester City have bossed this relationship and when the two teams met in April at the Etihad, the Sky Blues handed out a 5-2 thumping to the Londoners. 

The Citizens are seven times winner of the FA Cup, the last time in 2023 and they were beaten finalists last season, while Palace are attempting to win the trophy for the first time in their third final.

Manchester City are the clear favourites to win this showcase final but they do have form when it comes to losing to underdogs, going down 1-0 to Wigan Athletic in the 2013 FA Cup final. The Eagles lost to Manchester United in the 2016 final; after leading late in the game they went down to a 2-1 extra time defeat.     

The Sky Blues have won five of their last six games and are unbeaten in ten, while the Eagles are unbeaten in five, winning two and drawing three of their last five games 

 

Betting Tip

Manchester City are at SBOTOP odds of 1.70 to win this final in normal time, with Palace at 3.99 and the draw at 3.47. The Eagles are in fine form, but I think the Sky Blues may just have too much for them as De Bruyne takes his final bow. 

   

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