Opposition briefing: FA Cup Final Opponents Manchester City

Match previews

16 May 2025

Crystal Palace return to Wembley for a third FA Cup Final in our history on Saturday, 17th May (16:30 BST) this time with Manchester City the opponents - before kick-off, it’s time to get the lowdown on our fellow finalists…

Factfile

Manager: Pep Guardiola
Position: 4th
Nickname: The Citizens
Ground: Etihad Stadium
Founded: 1880 (145 years ago)

Eagle Eye

Ahead of the 2025 FA Cup Final against Manchester City we spoke to football reporter Paul Hirst for the inside track on Palace's opponents. Paul has covered both Manchester City and Manchester United for The Times and The Sunday Times since 2016.

At the start of the season what were your expectations for Manchester City this year? And have performances matched how you thought it would go?

At the start of the season, I fully expected Manchester City to at least challenge for the title. The return of Ilkay Gundogan – captain from the Treble season – on a free transfer, was a great signing in my eyes and Savinho looked bright in pre-season too.

Results have been far worse than I expected, particularly in the autumn. It was a very strange feeling watching a team that had been so dominant for the best part of a decade, go on a run of one win in 13 matches.

How important has the FA Cup become to Manchester City’s season – particularly after going out of Europe so early in comparison to previous seasons?

Pep Guardiola is a serial winner so going without a trophy for just the second season in his City career is almost unthinkable. Even if they win the FA Cup, their season will be defined as a failure, but it will at least give them silverware and a confidence boost ahead of the Club World Cup.

Guardiola, in fairness, has always treated the FA Cup as a proper competition and has very rarely rested key players. He has taken it very seriously, which is why he has won it twice.

How much does Kevin De Bruyne still have to offer, will City miss him next season?

It has been such a pleasure watching De Bruyne light up the Premier League for so many seasons. He is probably the most technically gifted playmaker that I’ve seen and another reason he is so important to City is because of his leadership skills and courage.

He leads by example in everything he does. The most impressive aspect of De Bruyne’s game is his temperament. I’ve seen him get kicked so many times and he never reacts. He has lost a yard of pace due to injury, but his vision and anticipation are still second to none.

What has been the biggest highlight of City’s season so far?

There haven’t been many big wins to speak of but probably the most complete performance was the 4-0 hammering of Newcastle United. Newcastle were flying at the time, but City dominated them from start to finish and Omar Marmoush scored a hat-trick. It was also Nico González’s best game for City. Afterwards, Guardiola described him as a “mini-Rodri” which is quite a compliment given how highly Rodri is regarded in the north-west and beyond.

Biggest surprise of the season?

City’s dip in the second third of the season shocked me. Nobody saw that coming. I was also surprised when City announced that they were releasing De Bruyne given his importance to the team over the years.

From a positive point of view, it has been a nice surprise to see Josko Gvardiol develop into a top-class defender. When Gvardiol signed for City in 2023, we expected to see him at centre back, but Guardiola has transformed him into a marauding full back who has scored six goals.

In your opinion, where will the FA Cup Final be won and lost?

The match will be won in both boxes. Both teams have a top-class striker. I really like Mateta’s work-rate – he is relentless in the way he presses – and is one of the best in the league when he is clinical.

Erling Haaland, of course, has demonstrated why he is regarded as one of the best forwards in the world. He looked off the pace on his return from injury last week against Southampton, but if he plays at his best, he is unstoppable.

What have you made of the previous Palace vs Man City encounters this season – could they tell us anything about what is to come in the final?

City beat Palace 5-2 at the Etihad this season but for the first 20 minutes, they struggled more than in any other game this season. City could not deal with the pace of Sarr, Eze and Mateta.

If Palace play as quickly and as directly on the transition, City could struggle.

Where, potentially, could Palace hurt Manchester City and vice-versa?

If City manage to get in behind Palace’s wing backs, they could cause a lot of problems. Before Haaland returned, Guardiola played a 4-2-2-2 formation in which the two forwards, Omar Marmoush and Savinho, drifted wide and played in the pockets, creating space for the two attacking midfielders in behind.

Palace’s greatest threat is on the counter – I’ve been impressed by both Muñoz and Mitchell this year. They played so well at Old Trafford in February.

If they can get forward and help the likes of Eze, Sarr and Mateta, then City will be at risk of conceding. Palace were so dangerous on the counter at the Etihad that they could have gone at least three or four goals up.

The boss

The most decorated manager of the modern generation, Pep Guardiola’s career in European football has been as transformative as it has been successful.

His Barcelona side will go down as one of the greatest in the history of the game, with success in Germany with Bayern Munich and a dominant spell in England cementing his legacy.

This is Guardiola's ninth season with City - only in his very first campaign back in 2016/17 did he fail to win a trophy. However, a defeat on Saturday would confirm a season without major silverware, although they did win the Community Shield back in August.

Boot in both camps

Sun Jihai, alongside Fan Zhiyi, became the first Chinese players to feature in the English leagues when they both arrived in 1998. In 2002, Sun moved to Manchester City - and became something of a cult hero - making more than 150 appearances.

Palace cult hero Michael Hughes who captained the club in the Premier League, also spent four years with City at the start of his career.

For a further look at those to have played for both teams head here.

Record against Palace

At Selhurst Park, the Eagles are without a win since 2015, when Glenn Murray and Jason Puncheon were on the scoresheet, all but ending the City title challenge for that season.

Palace did earn a 2-2 draw in December, Daniel Muñoz and Maxence Lacroix got the goals that day, while City had Rico Lewis sent off.

Away from home Palace have a better record than most in recent years at Etihad Stadium.

Last season, the Eagles came back from two goals down to earn an excellent draw. This followed on from famous victories in 2021 and 2018, the latter thanks to Andros Townsend's magnificent volley.

The 2018 game saw Palace end a 100% home winning record that season for Pep Guardiola's side, with a Jeffrey Schlupp strike and a Luka Milivojevic penalty ensuring one of the best away days in recent memory.

However, the most recent meeting between the two teams, only last month, ended in a 5-2 win for City. However, Palace did race into a 2-0 lead and could have easily been three up, were it not for a tight offside call and some missed chances.

Did you know?

Manchester City began existence as St Marks, named after the church which had sought to curb gang violence by creating a new pastime for young men in the local area. The team quickly made progress, winning promotion to the First Division in 1899 and the FA Cup in 1904, narrowly missing out on a league and cup double.

However, this golden period was blighted by accusations of financial irregularities and in 1906 the manager Tom Maley was banned from football for life while 17 players were given significant punishment. After the charges were proven, City were forced by the Football Association to auction their players, with many bought by emerging local rivals Manchester United and going on to win the club’s first league title.

Bert Trautmann’s story is a fascinating one, not just for his footballing career. A German paratrooper captured by the British during the Second World War, he refused an offer of repatriation and instead decided to settle in Lancashire after his release.

His performances in goal for local side St Helens drew the attention of Man City, who signed him in 1949 to play in the First Division. Just four years after the war, the signing understandably drew an emotional response and at one point 20,000 people attended a demonstration protesting his involvement.

His stellar performances soon put paid to those discussions, and he went on to play 545 times for the club, ranking fourth on their list of all-time appearance makers. His most famous hour came in the 1956 FA Cup final.

Having been named the Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year that season, he was in goal for the final against Birmingham City. Diving at the feet of a striker, he suffered a serious injury but – with no substitutes – continued to play on, making a series of vital interventions to win Man City the cup.

As he collected his medal, his posture was noticeably crooked. He was taken to hospital for tests, and it was established he had played the final 17 minutes with a broken neck.

Get ready for Wembley!

Match Details

Crystal Palace v Manchester City

Saturday, 17th May
16:30 BST
FA Cup Final
Wembley Stadium
Live audio commentary on Palace TV+

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