The 2023 FA Cup Final will see a first for the competition as two great northern city rivals will meet at Wembley for the first time in their long and illustrious histories.
There have been a number of other derby matches for an FA Cup Final such as Liverpool beating Everton in both 1986 and 1989, the first of those securing Liverpool’s Double in 1986.
There have also been numerous London derbies contesting the final including Arsenal v Chelsea (2002,2017,2020), Tottenham v QPR (1982), West Ham v Arsenal (1980), West Ham v Fulham (1975) and Tottenham v Chelsea (1967).
We’ve also had little known midlands derby games between WBA v Birmingham City (1931), WBA v Aston Villa (1887, 1892, 1895) and Nottingham Forest v Derby (1898).
However, when it comes to classic derbies in FA Cup Finals between two fierce rivals, it is perhaps only the Liverpool v Everton games that meets this criteria.
Arsenal have never played Spurs in an FA Cup Final, Chelsea have never met Fulham, Birmingham City and Aston Villa have yet to meet as have Sunderland and Newcastle to name but a few.
But that will change on Saturday 3rd June when Manchester City take on Manchester United for the most famous knockout cup trophy in world football.
Fans who like to get their bets on early can do so with bet365 Sport who are offering an extensive selection of bets on the game already, with more markets to become available as we head nearer to the game day.
And remember too, you can tune in when the action kicks off for some outstanding In Play betting too.
So if you are thinking of having a bet, let’s take a look at how both teams shape up for the final.
2023 FA Cup Final Preview
- Manchester City v Manchester United
- Date – Saturday 3rd June, Kick off 3pm
- Venue – Wembley Stadium, London
- Live – on BBC1 & ITV1
In a welcome throwback to the tradition of the FA Cup being shown live on both terrestrial channels, this will be the case once again on Saturday when both BBC and ITV will be showing the game live on their main channels, plus across their streaming services.
Match Officials
Wigan resident Paul Tierney has been selected by the FA to officiate the FA Cup Final, with Neil Davies and Scott Ledger as his assistants on the field while Peter Bankes will take on the role of fourth official.
David Coote will be leading the team in charge of presiding over VAR for the final.
Tale of the Tape – Manchester City v Manchester United
| Manchester City | Score | Versus | Score | Manchester United |
| Pep Guardiola | 10 | Manager | 8 | Erik Ten Haag |
| Ederson | 9 | Goalkeeper | 7 | David de Gea |
| Kyle Walker | 8 | Right Back | 8 | Aaron Wan-Bissaka |
| Nathan Ake | 8 | Left Back | 7 | Luke Shaw |
| Ruben Dias | 8 | Centre Back 1 | 6 | Victor Lindelof |
| John Stones | 8 | Centre Back 2 | 7 | Raphael Varane |
| Rodri | 10 | Midfielder 1 | 6 | Christian Eriksen |
| Ilkay Gundogan | 9 | Midfielder 2 | 10 | Casemiro |
| Kevin De Bruyne | 10 | Attacking Mid | 8 | Bruno Fernandes |
| Jack Grealish | 8 | Left Wing | 6 | Jadon Sancho |
| Bernardo Silva | 9 | Right Wing | 7 | Antony |
| Erling Haaland | 10 | Attacker | 9 | Marcus Rashford |
| Stefan Ortega | 6 | Sub 1 (GK) | 5 | Jack Butland |
| Aymeric Laporte | 8 | Sub 2 | 5 | Harry Maguire |
| Rico Lewis | 7 | Sub 3 | 7 | Diogo Dalot |
| Kalvin Phillips | 6 | Sub 4 | 7 | Fred |
| Phil Foden | 8 | Sub 5 | 7 | Scott McTominay |
| Julian Alvarez | 8 | Sub 6 | 7 | Antony Martial |
| Riyad Mahrez | 8 | Sub 7 | 6 | Alejandro Garnacho |
| Sergio Gomez | 5 | Sub 8 | 5 | Wout Weghorst |
| Cole Palmer | 5 | Sub 9 | 6 | Tyrell Malacia |
| 168 | Totals | 144 |
As you can see from these ratings, I have City outscoring United in 9 out of 11 positions from the likely starting 11, with United having just one winner (Casemiro) in their starting 11 and on the bench it doesn’t get any better with City having five stronger subs, losing two and tying two.
That shows to me at least that on paper, Manchester City are much the strongest team and if you look back at recent games between the two, that is bore out with City winning three of the last four.
Last Ten Manchester Derby Results
- Jan 2023 – Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City
- Oct 2022 – Manchester City 6-3 Manchester United
- Mar 2022 – Manchester City 4-1 Manchester United
- Nov 2021 – Manchester United 0-2 Manchester City
- Mar 2021 – Manchester City 0-2 Manchester United
- Jan 2021 – Manchester United 0-2 Manchester City (League Cup)
- Dec 2020 – Manchester United 0-0 Manchester City
- Mar 2020 – Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City
- Jan 2020 – Manchester City 0-1 Manchester United (League Cup)
- Jan 2020 – Manchester United 1-3 Manchester City (League Cup)
Man City Wins – 5, Man Utd Wins 4, Draws – 1
What is interesting though is United hold the lead in the FA Cup between the two winning six of the nine fixtures between the teams, while City have won three.
In all games, the teams have played 189 times, United winning 78, City 58 with 53 draws.
How Have The Teams Performed This Season In Comparison?
Let’s see how the teams match up against each other in the competitions they have been in this season:
| Manchester City | Competition | Manchester United |
| Lost to Liverpool (1-3) | Community Shield | N/A |
| Winners for 5th time in 6 seasons | Premier League | 3rd or 4th – Champions League qualification achieved. |
| Lost in QF to Southampton (0-2) | Carabao Cup | Winners |
| Finalists v Inter Milan (play June 10th in Istanbul) | Champions League | N/A |
| N/A | Europa League | Lost in QF to Sevilla (2-5) |
| Man City 4-0 Real Madrid Man City 4-1 Arsenal Man City 4-1 Liverpool Man City 7-0 Red Bull Leipzig Man City 3-0 Bayern Munich Arsenal 1-3 Man City Man City 6-3 Man Utd Sevilla 0-4 Man City Man City 6-0 Nottm Forest | Best Performances This Season | Man Utd 2-1 Liverpool Man Utd 3-1 Arsenal Real Sociedad 0-1 Man Utd Man Utd 2-1 Man City Nottm Forest 0-3 Man Utd Barcelona 2-2 Man Utd Man Utd 2-1 Barcelona Man Utd 4-1 Real Betis Man Utd 2-0 Newcastle (EFL Final) |
| Liverpool 1-0 Man City Man City 1-2 Brentford Man City 1-1 Everton Tottenham 1-0 Man City | Worst Performances This Season | Brentford 4-0 Man Utd Man City 6-3 Man Utd Liverpool 7-0 Man Utd Sevilla 3-0 Man Utd |
| 147 | Total Goals (all Competitions) | 96 |
| 43 | Goals Conceded (All Comps) | 59 |
| Erling Haaland (50 games, 52 goals) | Leading Goalscorer | Marcus Rashford (53 games, 29 goals) |
| 24 | Players Used | 30 |
| 68 | Yellow Cards | 123 |
| 2 | Red Cards | 2 |
| 57 | Games Played | 59 |
| 42 | Won | 39 |
| 9 | Drew | 9 |
| 6 | Lost | 11 |
Who Do The Bookmakers Think Will Win The FA Cup Final?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Manchester City are 1/2 on to win the FA Cup Final, with Manchester United 19/4 to win and the draw 4/1 with bet365 Sport.
I do feel Manchester City will win, but I think it will be a closer game than many are expecting.
However, if I was going to back a scoreline then I would go for a 2-0 win to Manchester City which is a 7/1 shot with bet365 at the time of writing.