It has been an incredible season for Manchester City. They have won three of the
four domestic trophies available this season, landing the Charity Shield back in August, then the Carabao Cup in March and then last week, they landed the Premier League title by a single point from Liverpool. This weekend, they can make it a clean sweep of every trophy in English football by defeating Watford in the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.
The Hornets are the only team standing in the way of an unprecedented level of dominance in the English game by City and Javi Gracia’s men will have plenty of neutrals backing them as the big underdogs in this game. However, the size of Watford’s task is huge if they are to stop Manchester City’s seemingly inexorable roll towards total dominance of the English game.
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The game kicks off at its traditional time of 3pm on Saturday afternoon at Wembley Stadium and as always, it will be one of the most bet on games in the Football season. If you fancy a flutter, then head on over to bet365 Sport where you can enjoy Live Streaming of the game (provided you have placed a bet in the previous 24 hours, or have a credit balance in your account) as well as plenty of markets and In Play betting while the game is in action. If you aren’t a member, join today using the latest bet365 Sport New Player Bonus to get some great value betting when you start to wager on site.
Lets’ now preview how both teams reached the final.
How City and Watford reached Wembley
Manchester City
- 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)
Games Played – 5, Goals Scored – 20, Goals Conceded – 3.
Top FA Cup Goalscorer – Foden, Jesus – both 3 goals apiece
Watford
- 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)
Games Played – 5, Goals Scored – 10, Goals Conceded – 3
Top FA Cup Goalscorer – Deulofeu, Deeney and Capoue – 2 each
Squads and Teams
Manchester City
- 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 – Danilo
- Dl – Bernard Mendy
- Dc – Vincent Kompany
- Dc – Aymeric Laporte
- DMc – Fernandinho
- Mc – Bernardo Silva
- Mc – David Silva
- AMr – Raheem Sterling
- AMl – Leroy Sane
- Ac – Sergio Aguero
Watford
- 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
Comparable Performance Indicators
Man City
- 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)
Watford
- 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.
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 between the teams. They have not lost to Watford since March 1989.
- This season, the games in the Premier League finished as wins for City. City won 2-1 at Vicarage Road in December and then 3-1 at the Etihad in March.
- The teams have met in six FA Cup matches. Watford winning just one, with two draws and City winning all of the three most recent FA Cup games between the teams.
FA Cup Final Appearances
- Manchester City have won the FA Cup on five occasions and have reached the final on ten occasions. Their last win came in 2011, and their last final appearance was in 2013 when they lost to Wigan Athletic.
- Watford have reached the FA Cup Final just once previously in 1984 where they lost 2-0 to Everton.
FA Cup Final Preview and Tips
It is hard to make any case for Manchester City to win this game anything less than easily. City have won all of the last ten between the two, they won both Premier League clashes between the teams this season (though Watford made it uncomfortable somewhat late on in the game at Vicarage Road) and in terms of the quality of their squads, most recent form and the relevant firepower available to each team, City come out top in every department comfortably.
Watford come into this game on the back of a 4-1 home loss to West Ham. City, in contrast won 4-1 away to Brighton to clinch the Premier League title and as such, it is not difficult to see why they are such odds on favourites.
So yes, I am backing City to end their season on a high note by claiming the only domestic trophy that they are yet to win, but I do feel Watford will make a game of it and score a goal. As such, I’d back City to win and both teams to score which is a 7/4 shot at bet365 at the moment. You could also back Raheem Sterling to score at any time, which is an even money shot and I feel that is a great deal.