FA Cup final, Crystal Palace vs Manchester City: Decoding stats
What's the story
Crystal Palace and Manchester City gear up for the 2024/25 FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday, May 17.
The match is set to start at 9:00pm IST. One can watch the match live on the Sony Sports Network.
Notably, Man City manager Pep Guardiola has vowed to win the FA Cup final, despite a difficult season for the club.
The team has endured a tough year, having lost their Premier League title to Liverpool and getting knocked out of the Carabao Cup and UEFA Champions League.
Here's more.
Quotes
Guardiola emphasizes importance of FA Cup final
Guardiola stressed on the importance of the FA Cup final, saying, "Once we are here of course we want the trophy. It is massively important."
He also recalled last season's heartache of losing to Manchester United in the final. "It was a disappointment last season (losing in the final to Manchester United)," he said.
But he is confident of their showing this time against Crystal Palace.
Opposition analysis
Guardiola praises Crystal Palace's quality and structure
Guardiola also took time to praise their opponents, Crystal Palace, who sit 12th in the league table and are eyeing their first major trophy.
He recognized the quality of the team, saying "It is a fantastic team. They have had a really good second part of the season."
He praised key players like Jean-Philippe Mateta, Eberechi Eze, Ismaila Sarr, and Adam Wharton for their skills and defensive structure.
Season outlook
Journey of the teams to this season's FA Cup final
Man City started their FA Cup journey with an 8-0 win over Bristol City. Leyton Orient was their next scalp in a 2-1 affair.
City went past Plymouth next, winning 3-1. Bournemouth faced a 2-1 defeat at home thereafter. In the semis, City tamed Nottingham Forest 2-0.
Palace eked out a 1-0 win over Stockport County early on and then defeated Doncaster Rovers 2-0.
Palace took down Milwall 3-1 before sealing 3-0 wins over Fulham and Aston Villa respectively.
Performance
A look at the team and key forward player stats
City have scored 17 goals this season with Nathan O'Reilly contributing with three goals and two assists from 5 games. Fellow youngster James McAtee also owns three goals.
On the other hand, Palace have scored 12 goals across their 5 games. Notably, they have kept 4 clean sheets in addition to conceding a single goal.
Ismail Sarr has three goals and an assist. Eberechi Eze has three goals and an assist as well.
Opta stats
A 14th FA Cup final for Man City
City are playing in their 14th FA Cup final. Notably, the 7-time winners are chasing an 8th honor. Arsenal (14), Manchester United (13), Liverpool and Spurs (8 each) are ahead of City.
Notably, this is Palace's third FA Cup final. Palace lost both finals on previous occasions to Man United.
City have won their last three FA Cup clashes against Palace by an aggregate score of 18-4. Last time these two sides met in this competition was in 2016-17 (4th round).
Do you know?
City are unbeaten in 7 meetings with Palace across competitions
As per Opta, City are unbeaten in 7 meetings with Palace in all competitions. In this run, they have won 4 games in addition to three draws. Palace last beat City 2-0 in a Premier League game in October 2021.