FA Cup Final 2025: How To Watch, Predictions & Team News | OneFootball

FA Cup glory is on the line as Crystal Palace and Manchester City square off in Saturday’s final at the iconic Wembley Stadium.

History firmly backs the seven-time FA Cup winners for success, yet the Eagles won’t go down without a fight as they aim to write their names down in football’s oldest cup competition folklore.

Palace will hope the third time could be the charm as they seek their maiden FA Cup triumph after being beaten twice by Mancunian opposition, going down to Manchester United in 1990 and 2016.

For Man City, this is the only chance to avoid a first trophyless campaign since Pep Guardiola’s first season in charge and potentially set the groundwork for a much-improved 2025/26.

How to watch?

Fans in the United Kingdom can catch the FA Cup final live on BBC One, iPlayer or the BBC Sport website and app.

Those based in the United States can enjoy the game on ESPN, while fans around the world can explore FA Cup live streaming options online.

Crystal Palace road to the FA Cup final

Palace’s FA Cup journey kicked off with a narrow 1-0 home win against lower-league Stockport County in round three before they saw off Doncaster Rovers 2-0 in the follow-up.

Glasern’s charges have since gone into overdrive, netting precisely three goals in three consecutive cup ties to overcome Millwall, Fulham and Aston Villa via an aggregate score of 9-1.

Potentially 90 minutes away from immortality, Palace will be out to erase the memory of their only previous appearances in this fixture, with another Manchester outfit standing in their way.

Despite losing both previous FA Cup finals, they were no pushovers, forcing a replay in the first and taking the second to extra-time.

Manchester City road to the FA Cup final

An 8-0 rout of fourth-tier Salford City to start the competition set the tone for Man City’s flawless FA Cup run.

Lower-league Leyton Orient and Plymouth Argyle made the Cityzens sweat in the next two rounds, but couldn’t deter them from locking down a place at Wembley.

Stern tests were yet to come, but Pep Guardiola’s side navigated quarter-final and semi-final ties against Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest with relative ease, racking up a 4-1 aggregate score.

As a result, they will contest a third consecutive FA Cup final after slumping to a 2-1 defeat to Man Utd in last year’s showpiece.

Preview

Palace head into proceedings in fine form after a 2-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend marked their fifth successive unbeaten game in domestic action.

It was also their third clean sheet in that sequence, which includes a thumping 3-0 victory against Villa in the FA Cup semi-finals, maintaining a feel-good factor ahead of this historic showdown.

However, the Selhurst Park club must defy their recent track record in this match-up to ascend the throne after failing to beat Man City in their last seven meetings (D3, L4).

Glasner’s side encouragingly drew 2-2 at home earlier this season but let a two-goal cushion slip through their fingers during a 5-2 defeat at the Etihad Stadium in mid-April.

That victory forms part of Man City’s ten-game unbeaten streak in all competitions (W7, D3), albeit they faltered at Premier League basement boys Southampton last time out.

A scoreless draw at St Mary’s may have renewed scepticism among the club faithful ahead of this clash, casting doubt on City’s quest to move into joint-third for all-time victories in the FA Cup.

Speaking to BBC, Erling Braut Haaland described Man City’s wasteful season as ‘boring and not fun’ but insisted they can make amends at Wembley.

Team News

Palace are sweating over Adam Wharton’s match fitness after an ankle problem forced him out of last weekend’s win at Spurs.

In addition to the England international, long-term absentees Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure are unavailable for selection.

John Stones, Oscar Bobb, and Nathan Ake remain on the sidelines for City. Rodri has returned to training following his anterior cruciate ligament injury.

However, the Ballon d’Or winner may have to wait for his first start since September last year.

Prediction

Palace have drawn twice and lost twice in their last four Premier League games against City, but they’ve also scored twice in each of those four games.

That, coupled with the memory of City losing the final last summer, and a troubled season so far, means there is every chance of this being a difficult game for Guardiola’s team.

City are pre-match favourites for a good reason. Failure would be a bad look, even if materially not competing for the league title and in Europe hurts more.