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It's FA Cup final day at Wembley. Does it get any better for Crystal Palace and Manchester City? You bet it doesn't! Pep Guardiola and City have endured so much over the course of this season. When you look at what has happened to them over the last nine or 10 months, the fact that they're still within touching distance of winning a trophy is quite crazy.
City have to win this, they cannot go trophyless after coming this close to winning silverware. If they end up losing the FA Cup final against Palace, that would be the biggest insult to what has been a forgettable season. Can City do it on Saturday at Wembley? I personally think this is a really tough game to call. I expect this cup final to be a really open contest where the result isn't a foregone conclusion!
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If you remember the last game between these two sides in the league, Manchester City secured a 5-2 win. But Palace were 2-0 up in that game and it could have easily been 3-0! If that third goal from Palace wasn't disallowed, that would have been game over for City. I know that City put five past Palace to seal that comeback win, but it became so evident that the Eagles can hurt their opponents.
We all know how dangerous Palace can be when the likes of Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta hit the ground running. I've also been very impressed by Daniel Munoz and Marc Guehi in defence. So I expect this final to be a very even contest at Wembley.
City are also involved in the race to qualify for the Champions League next season and have to face Bournemouth in a league game just days after this final. But I don't think the players will be affected by this tight schedule. Let's not forget that this team was aiming for the quadruple not too long ago! These players know what it takes to play two or three games in a week and I expect them to be fully ready to take on this challenge.
Now it's time for the million dollar question - who wins the FA Cup? Purely because of their experience, I'm going to go with Manchester City here. Crystal Palace can be proud of their run in the cup, they have been incredible. I don't expect Oliver Glasner's men to go down without a fight either. But I still think City will prevail in the end and taste silverware at Wembley.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester City
