FA Cup final battles: Alejandro Garnacho versus Kyle Walker | OneFootball

Manchester United fans all over the world are looking forward to finishing a devastatingly poor season on a high when they take on Manchester City in the FA Cup final this Saturday at Wembley.

The Red Devils have got used to the feeling of heading down to Wembley as this is the club’s fifth trip down to the national stadium in two seasons.

However, Erik ten Hag’s men came unstuck 2-1 in last season’s final and will be hoping to go one better in this year’s showpiece event.

In reality, City are heavy favourites after winning their fourth consecutive league title and United stumbled to an eighth place finish in the Premier League.

Nonetheless, the great thing about cup football is form tends to go out the window and if the Red Devils can come out on top in key battles across the pitch, at least for an afternoon, there is a chance the cup can travel back up to Old Trafford and not the Etihad.

Alejandro Garnacho has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dull season for United fans.

The Argentine has been scintillating at times this year and has formed a strong partnership with fellow youngsters Kobbie Mainoo and Rasmus Hojlund.

The 19 year old broke into the first team last season but was largely an impact player off the bench who would use his blistering pace to run at tired legs.

This season he has transformed himself into a key starter and this can be seen in the fact he has played 37 games in a row for the club this season. In total, he has played a mammoth 49 matches, scoring nine goals and creating five more.

However, if he is to have any joy on Saturday, he will likely have to get the better of formidable full back, Kyle Walker.

The 33 year old defender has also been instrumental in his side’s season, playing 46 matches in all competitions and sharing his time between full back and centre back in a back three.

Walker is famous for his immense pace and it will be a fascinating duel between the players. The Englishman recorded an incredible top speed of 37.31 km/h last season.

However, luckily for United, Garnacho is no slouch either. This season he has recorded the fifth fastest speed in the league at 35.01 km/h.

What’s more at 19 years old, Garnacho should have the legs to outlast the 33 year old Walker over the course of the match. Nonetheless, pace will not be enough to overcome the England international.

Garnacho has shown this season that he has developed more to his game and when he is on song, he can take up intelligent positions out wide before drifting in for clever combination play with the likes of Kobbie Mainoo or Bruno Fernandes.

The likelihood is that City will control the majority of possession, so the Red Devils will need to counter effectively on the large Wembley pitch and this is where Garnacho can be vital for Ten Hag’s men.

With Martinez back in the team, accurate long balls can be dropped over the shoulder of City’s inevitable high line and despite the multiple complexities of playing the champions, their style of play will always give you a chance to hit them on the counter, as United managed to do at the Etihad in March.

Whilst United were deserved losers on the day, they did take a 1-0 lead through Marcus Rashford’s wonder strike and could have found themselves 3-0 up if they had not been so wasteful in front of goal in the opening 30 minutes of play.

Despite Walker’s impressive form, he is not the perfect player either. The full back can be susceptible to the press, especially for a City player, so if Garnacho can work hard off the ball, he may get some joy from the Englishman.

In addition, if he bombs forward as he usually does when playing right back, there could be ample room for the United man to exploit if he is efficient and times his runs well.

United fans will certainly be hoping the Argentine youngster can cap his 50th appearance of the season with one of his best performances yet and help deliver the famous old trophy back to the red half of Manchester.

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