Saturday FA Cup Final Manchester United vs Crystal Palace

May 21, 2016 17:30pm – Wembley Stadium

Recent Form in all competitions

Manchester United: WLWDW

Crystal Palace: LWLLD

In a repeat of the 1990 FA Cup final, Manchester United and Crystal Palace will both seek to end their disappointing seasons on a positive note by lifting some silverware at Wembley on Saturday.

Having failed to qualify for the Champions League for the second time in three years, an FA Cup triumph may provide some small consolation for fans of the Manchester club. However, they have once again failed to live up to their own high expectations this season.

The lack of Champions League football could be a concern as the club strives to attract more top talent this summer. With Pep Guardiola now occupying the hot seat in the blue half of the city, their rivals could now been seen as the most alluring club in Manchester.

Victory in the competition would bring to an end United’s three-year trophy drought but it may not be enough to save the job of under-pressure coach Louis van Gaal.

The Red Devils have won the trophy 11 times before with their last triumph coming back in 2004. They come into this game on the back of a 3-1 win at home to AFC Bournemouth.

Crystal Palace have yet to win a major trophy but did reach the final of this tournament back in 1990, when they also came up against this weekend’s opponents. On that occasion, it took a replay to separate the clubs, with Manchester United eventually prevailing by a single goal.

The Eagles had a great start to the season and were flirting with the European qualification place around Christmas before a dismal run of form saw them plummet down the table. In the end, they had to settle for a lowly 15th place finish. In their last league match, they were hammered 4-1 away to Southampton.

Prediction

Palace won just two of their last 21 matches in the league and had the second-worst form from Christmas onwards. Away from home, they failed to win a single league match in 2016.

Manchester United have not had a great season by their usual standards but they had the third-best form in the league over the last 10 games, and only Arsenal have won more editions of this competition.

You can back Manchester United to win at a best price of 8/11 with Betfair.