Manchester City 2-1 Manchester United Replay: FA Cup Final 2022-23

5:30 PM: Hello everyone and welcome to Khel Now’s LIVE COVERAGE of the Manchester City vs Manchester United match in the FA Cup Final 2022-23. The kick-off is just two hours away! I’m your host Govind, and I’ll be keeping you company through what promises a fascinating evening of football. Please wait for 30 Seconds for the Live blog to load.

Manchester United and Manchester City meet for the first FA Cup final Manchester derby in the competition’s 152-year history at the end of this season. Whoever lifts the FA Cup on Saturday will have even more to celebrate than usual.

Manchester City are the highest scorers in this season’s FA Cup (first round onwards) with 17 goals. The last team to score more in a single campaign were the Citizens themselves, netting 26 on route to lifting the trophy in 2019. Manchester City are yet to concede a goal in this season’s FA Cup. In the Football League era (since 1888-89), only two teams have won the trophy without conceding a goal – Preston North End (1889) and Bury (1903).

Following their Premier League title win, Manchester City could win the league and FA Cup double for the second time in their history, after 2018-19. They would be the third team to do so on more than one occasion after Manchester United (1993-94, 1995-96, 1998-99) and Arsenal (1970-71, 1997-98, 2001-02).

Having won 3-1 in each round from the third to the quarter-final in this season’s FA Cup, Manchester United reached the final by beating Brighton on penalties after a 0-0 draw. No team has ever been involved in a shootout in both the semi-final and final within the same FA Cup campaign before. Having already won the League Cup against Newcastle this season, Manchester United are looking to win both major domestic cup competitions in a single season for the first time. They would be the fifth different side overall to achieve this, after Arsenal (1992-93), Liverpool (2000-01 and 2021-22), Chelsea (2006-07) and Manchester City (2018-19).

This is Manchester City’s 12th FA Cup final, winning six and losing five of the previous 11. They’ve alternated between losing and winning in their last four, most recently beating Watford 6-0 in 2019. Manchester United are contesting their 21st FA Cup final, the joint-most of any side in the history of the competition along with Arsenal.

They’ve won the trophy 12 times, with their eight final defeats the joint-most of any side along with Chelsea and Everton. This will be the third meeting between Man City and Man Utd at Wembley Stadium, with the other two both coming in 2011. The Citizens won an FA Cup semi-final tie 1-0, while the Red Devils won 3-2 in the Community Shield.

Manchester City Form (All Competition): L -W -W -W -W

Manchester United Form (All Competition): W -W -W -W -L

Players to watch

Manchester United: Bruno Fernandes

Fernandes’s total G/A (goals + assists) is 16 for this season as he has assisted 8 goals in 37 matches so far in the Premier League 2022/2023 season. Looking into his passing aspect of the game, Borges Fernandes passes the ball roughly 49.83 times during a game with a pass completion rate of 77.64%. He also plays 3.20 key passes each game which leads to significant scoring chances. Fernandes created 32 big chances in the 2022-23 Premier League season (De Bruyne on 02nd with 31 chances), the most of any player in the competition. He also leads the table for most chances created in the league with 119 to his name.

Manchester City: Riyad Mahrez

Since his FA Cup debut for the club in 2019, Riyad Mahrez has scored more goals in the competition proper than any other player (11). He’s scored five so far this season – the last time a Man City player scored more in a single season was in 1933-34 (Fred Tilson, 9).  In their 3-0 semi-final win over Sheffield United, Riyad Mahrez became the first Man City player to score a hat-trick at Wembley Stadium. Overall he’s scored four times at Wembley for City, with only Sergio Agüero netting more for the Citizens at the ground (6).

Match Facts for Manchester City vs Manchester United

• Kevin De Bruyne is the only Manchester City player who scored in their 6-0 FA Cup final victory over Watford in 2019 still at the club. He could become the second player to score in two different FA Cup finals for the club, after Bobby Johnstone (1955 and 1956).
• Erling Haaland has scored 52 goals in all competitions for Manchester City this season – he could become the first ever Norwegian player to score in the FA Cup final.
• Spanish managers have won the FA Cup on four occasions – Rafael Benítez with Liverpool in 2006, Roberto Martínez with Wigan in 2013, Mikel Arteta with Arsenal in 2020 and Man City’s Pep Guardiola in 2019. The only Spanish manager to lose an FA Cup final was Javier Gracia with Watford, who lost to compatriot Guardiola in 2019.
• Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag will be the fourth different Dutch manager to take charge of a team in an FA Cup final, after Ruud Gullit (W1 L1), Guus Hiddink (W1) and Louis van Gaal (W1).

Team & Injury News

Manchester United: Injury: A. Martial (Hamstring), Antony (Knock), D. Van de Beek (Knee Injury), Lisandro Martinez (Ankle/Foot Injury) and M. Sabitzer (Knee Injury) are all sitting out this season.

Manchester City: Injury: Nathan Ake (Hamstring) is the only player to be unfit for this final.

Head-to-Head stats

Matches: 20

Manchester City: 09

Manchester United: 09

Draws: 02

Predicted lineups

Manchester City predicted line-up (4-3-3):

Ederson, M. Akanji, Rodri, J. Stones, K. Walker, B. Silva, I. Gundogan, K. De Bruyne, P. Foden, E. Haaland, R. Mahrez

Manchester United predicted lineup (4-2-3-1):

De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Shaw, R. Varane, Casemiro, Eriksen, A. Garnacho, B. Fernandes, M. Rashford, J. Sancho