The current squad of players are on the verge of greatness and help banish the disappointment of both the 1990 and 2016 FA Cup Finals where the Eagles fell just short of glory.
MATCH INFORMATION
| 4.30pm kick off – 17 May 2025 |
| Wembley, South Way, London HA9 0WS |
PREVIOUS MEETING
| 28/01/2017 – You have to go back to 2017 for the last time these two sides met in the competition, and it was a one sided affair in the Fourth Round as City ran out 3-0 winners at Selhurst Park, courtesy of goals from Gabriel Jesus, Leroy Sane, and Yaya Toure. |
MATCH OFFICIALS
| Referee | Stuart Attwell |
| Assistant | Adam Nunn |
| Assistant | Dan Robathan |
| Fourth Official | Craig Taylor |
| VAR | Jarred Gillett |
| Support/Assistant VAR | Michael Salisbury, Darren Cann |
PALACE – Chadi Riad, and Cheick Doucoure continue to miss out through injury, while Adam Wharton is expected to return after missing the victory at Spurs.
CITY – Oscar Bobb, John Stones, Nathan Ake, and Rodri are all expected to be absent.
DISCIPLINARY RECORD
This is the section of our match preview that highlights those that have not been the best of friends with match officials as the season goes on. Of course, they all begin with a clean slate, but we will start to see those that will be heading for a ban or two as the campaign progresses.
| RED CARDS – Daichi KAMADA (1), Eddie NKETIAH (1), Marc GUEHI (1), Chris RICHARDS (1) |
| YELLOW CARDS (over 7.5) – Will HUGHES (11), Daniel MUNOZ (10), Jefferson LERMA (9) |
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
| 12/04/2025 | City 5-2 Palace |
| 07/12/2024 | Palace 2-2 City |
| 06/04/2024 | Palace 2-4 City |
| 16/12/2023 | City 2-2 Palace |
| 11/03/2023 | Palace 0-1 City |
Last FIVE results for Palace:
| 11/05/2025 | Spurs 0-2 Palace |
| 05/05/2025 | Palace 1-1 Forest |
| 26/04/2025 | Palace 3-0 Villa |
| 23/04/2025 | Arsenal 2-2 Palace |
| 19/04/2025 | Palace 0-0 Bournemouth |
Last FIVE results for City:
| 10/05/2025 | Southampton 0-0 City |
| 02/05/2025 | City 1-0 Wolves |
| 27/04/2025 | Forest 0-2 City |
| 22/04/2025 | City 2-1 Villa |
| 19/04/2025 | Everton 0-2 City |
FA CUP FORM
City have won the trophy on 7 occasions, while the Eagles have never won it of course. The two sides have met just 4 times in the competition, with City winning 3, and Palace 1 (1921 Palace 2-0 City, 1926 City 11-4 Palace, 1981 City 4-0 Palace, 2017 Palace 0-3 City).
RECORD AGAINST CITY
| Played | 73 |
| Won | 17 |
| Drawn | 17 |
| Lost | 39 |
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
This is the section of our match preview where we list two players from each side that are top of the ratings by our friends over at Who Scored. Obviously, there are no ratings to share at the moment but that will soon change!
| Erling HAALAND | 7.34 |
| Jeremy DOKU | 7.18 |
| Daniel MUNOZ | 7.13 |
| Ebere EZE | 7.09 |
ONE TO WATCH
| KEVIN DE BRUYNE |
| FORMER CLUBS – KVV Drongen, Gent, Genk, Chelsea, Werder Bremen (loan), Vfl Wolfsburg |
| Who else, after his influence in the City comeback at the Etihad a few weeks back? With his City career heading to an end, he will want to go out in style after his service to the club and after the disappointing season by their standards. |
THE NUMBERS
City are competing in their 14th FA Cup final. They’ve won the trophy 7 times, behind only Arsenal (14), Manchester United (13), Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham (8 each).
Palace are competing in their third FA Cup final, losing to Manchester United in both 1990 and 2016. They’re one of 4 clubs to compete in 2 finals without ever winning the trophy along with Queen’s Park (1884 & 1885), Birmingham City (1931 & 1956) and Watford (1984 & 2019).
City lost the 2024 FA Cup final 2-1 against Manchester United. Only once before have they lost consecutive appearances in major domestic finals (FA Cup/League Cup), losing the 1926 and 1933 FA Cup showpieces against Bolton and Everton respectively.
City have won their last 3 FA Cup meetings with Palace by an aggregate score of 18-4. The most recent meeting was in the fourth round in 2016-17, with the Citizens winning 3-0 at Selhurst Park.
City are unbeaten in their last 7 meetings with Palace in all competitions (W4 D3), since a 2-0 loss in the Premier League in October 2021.
Both teams have scored 2+ goals in each of the last 4 meetings between Palace and City, with two 2-2 draws, and 4-2 and 5-2 victories for the Citizens. The last time two top-flight clubs both scored 2+ goals in five consecutive meetings was between 1975 and 1977 (Derby vs Newcastle).
None of City’s last 44 games in the FA Cup have been drawn (W38 D6), 5 of the Citizens’ six defeats in that run have come at Wembley Stadium.
Palace have conceded just one goal in the 2024-25 FA Cup so far, while they’ve scored exactly three goals in their fifth round, quarter-final and semi-final victories this term.
City manager Pep Guardiola has won the FA Cup twice (2019, 2023) and the League Cup 4 times (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021). He could become the second manager to win both major English domestic competitions 3+ times after Alex Ferguson (5x FA Cup, 4x League Cup).
Palace boss Oliver Glasner is set to be the first Austrian to take charge of a team in the FA Cup final. The last 2 ‘new’ manager nationalities in the showpiece have lost, with Germany’s Thomas Tuchel going down against Leicester in 2021, and Israel’s Avram Grant losing to Chelsea in 2010.
This will be Kevin de Bruyne’s fourth – and likely, final – FA Cup final appearance with Manchester City. He’s been involved in 4 goals in his previous 3 final matches, scoring 1 and assisting 3.
Erling Haaland has failed to score in any of his 5 appearances for City at Wembley stadium, with 3 of those coming in the FA Cup. It’s the most games he’s played for the Citizens at a specific venue without finding the back of the net (followed by Anfield, 3).
Palace’s Eddie Nketiah has been involved in a goal in each of his last 3 FA Cup appearances (2 goals, 1 assist), all as a substitute. He’s also won the FA Cup once before, playing 8 minutes from the bench in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea in 2020.
Man City’s Nico O’Reilly has had a hand in 5 goals in this season’s FA Cup (3 goals, 2 assists) – only Josh Magennis (6) has had a hand in more in the competition proper this term.
Palace’s Eberechi Eze has been involved in 4 goals in his last 4 games in the FA Cup (3 goals, 1 assist), putting them 1-0 up in their semi-final win against Aston Villa. He hadn’t registered a single goal or assist in any of his first 14 appearances in the competition.
KEY CLASH
| ADAM WHARTON v KEVIN DE BRUYNE |
| Both these players are influential for their respective teams so this match up will be key on the cup final. The Belgian has the experience, but nothing phases the young Palace midfielder who is destined for great things. |
PRE-MATCH STATS
This is the section of our match preview where we keep a tally on the statistics for Palace players as the campaign continues and how they compare to other Premier League players.
| Goals | Jean-Philippe MATETA 14 (10th) |
| Assists | Ebere EZE 8 (10th) |
| Passes | Marc GUEHI 1741 (21st) |
| Tackles | Daniel MUNOZ 115 (2nd) |
| Touches | Marc GUEHI 2206 (24th) |
| Shots | Ebere EZE 101 (5th) |
| Fouls | Will HUGHES 62 (5th) |
| Dispossessed | Ebere EZE 44 (24th) |
| Saves | Dean HENDERSON 101 (7th) |
| Clearances | Maxence LACROIX 187 (8th) |
| Big Chances Missed | Jean-Philippe MATETA 17 (6th) |
TEB PREDICTION
We always make predictions for games, but this time we are passing as we simply cannot (or don’t want to) call it. The heart obviously says Palace will win the FA Cup for the first time in their history, while head says City will not allow a season without any silverware. The bookies have it as a City victory and that makes the Eagles the underdogs which suits us just fine. Whatever happens, happens but be louder, be prouder, and be PALACE!!!!!
| PREDICTED SCORE: No comment |
