FA Cup
A look at some of the stats ahead of Saturday’s Manchester derby FA Cup final
Manchester City take on rivals Manchester United in the 2023 FA Cup Final, and ahead of the showpiece, here are some of the key statistics and facts compiled by Opta
● This is the first ever major final between Manchester City and Manchester United.
● United have won five of their last six FA Cup meetings with City, most recently a 3-2 away win in January 2012. The only exception in that run was a semi-final victory for Man City in 2010-11.
● This will be the third meeting between City and United at Wembley Stadium, with the other two both coming in 2011. The Citizens won an FA Cup semi-final tie 1-0, while the Red Devils won 3-2 in the Community Shield.● This is City’s 12th FA Cup final, winning six and losing five of the previous eleven. They’ve alternated between losing and winning in their last four, most recently beating Watford 6-0 in 2019.
● United are contesting their 21st FA Cup Final, the joint-most of any side in the history of the competition along with Arsenal. They’ve won the trophy 12 times, with their eight final defeats the joint-most of any side along with Chelsea and Everton.
● Following their Premier League title win, City could win the league and FA Cup double for the second time in their history, after 2018-19. They would be the third team to do so on more than occasion after Manchester United (1993-94, 1995-96, 1998-99) and Arsenal (1970-71, 1997-98, 2001-02).
● Having already won the League Cup against Newcastle this season, Manchester United are looking to win both major domestic cup competitions in a single season for the first time. They would be the fifth different side overall to achieve this, after Arsenal (1992-93), Liverpool (2000-01 and 2021-22), Chelsea (2006-07) and Manchester City (2018-19).
● City are yet to concede a goal in this season’s FA Cup. In the Football League era (since 1888-89), only two teams have won the trophy without conceding a goal – Preston North End in 1889 and Bury in 1903.
● City are the highest scorers in this season’s FA Cup (first round onwards) with 17 goals. The last team to score more in a single campaign were the Citizens themselves, netting 26 en-route to lifting the trophy in 2019.
● Having won 3-1 in each round from the third to the quarter-final in this season’s FA Cup, United reached the final by beating Brighton on penalties after a 0-0 draw. No team has ever been involved in a shootout in both the semi-final and final within the same FA Cup campaign before.
● United boss Erik ten Hag will be the fourth different Dutch manager to take charge of a team in an FA Cup Final, after Ruud Gullit (W1 L1), Guus Hiddink (W1) and Louis van Gaal (W1).
● Spanish managers have won the FA Cup on four occasions – Rafael Benítez with Liverpool in 2006, Roberto Martínez with Wigan in 2013, Mikel Arteta with Arsenal in 2020 and City’s Pep Guardiola in 2019. The only Spanish manager to lose an FA Cup final was Javier Gracia with Watford, who lost to compatriot Guardiola in 2019.
● In their 3-0 semi-final win over Sheffield United, Riyad Mahrez became the first Manchester City player to score a hat-trick at Wembley Stadium. Overall he’s scored four times at Wembley for City, with only Sergio Agüero netting more for the Citizens at the ground (6).
● Marcus Rashford and Casemiro were on target for Manchester United in their League Cup final win against Newcastle. There have been five players to score in both major domestic cup finals for the Red Devils – Norman Whiteside, Mark Hughes, Brian McClair, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jesse Lingard.
● Erling Haaland has scored 52 goals in all competitions for Manchester City so far this season – he could become the first ever Norwegian player to score in the FA Cup Final.
● Kevin De Bruyne is the only Manchester City player who scored in their 6-0 FA Cup final victory over Watford in 2019 still at the club. He could become the second player to score in two different FA Cup Finals for the club, after Bobby Johnstone (1955 and 1956).
● Since his FA Cup debut for the club in 2019, Riyad Mahrez has scored more goals in the competition proper than any other player (11). He’s scored five so far this season – the last time a City player scored more in a single season was in 1933-34 (Fred Tilson, 9).
Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick as Manchester City crushed Liverpool 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to cruise into the FA Cup semi-finals.
Champions Liverpool played well in the opening half-hour with Mohamed Salah wasting an early chance, but once Haaland had scored from the spot in the 37th minute after a foul on Nico O’Reilly, their resistance crumbled.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk conceded the penalty with a rash challenge, and there was little the Dutch defender could do as City played scintillating attacking football for the remainder of the game.
His blond hair swinging behind him in a ponytail, Haaland netted his second two minutes into first-half stoppage time with a well-placed header from an excellent Antoine Semenyo cross.
Semenyo got on the scoresheet himself five minutes after the break, latching on to a ball in behind from Rayan Cherki and chipping it beautifully past Giorgi Mamardashvili, and Haaland completed his treble with a shot off the underside of the crossbar in the 57th minute.
Liverpool’s woes continued when Mohamed Salah, who is set to leave the club at the end of the season, capped off a poor performance by having his penalty saved by James Trafford, snuffing out any faint hopes Liverpool might have had of a comeback
As the game turned into a victory parade, many Liverpool fans started heading for the exits, and City manager Pep Guardiola rang the changes, replacing Haaland with Omar Marmoush, the Norwegian striker receiving a standing ovation as he left the field.
In the other quarter-finals, Chelsea take on Port Vale and Southampton host Arsenal later on Saturday, with Leeds United travelling to West Ham United on Sunday.
The semi-finals will take place at Wembley, and Haaland is relishing a return to the stadium.
“First half, we struggled a bit, but then we after around 30 minutes we kept going and in the end it’s an amazing game. Another Wembley trip for us is amazing and important,” he told broadcaster TNT.
“I think (my form this season) has been a bit too much up and down, which is not good enough. I cannot keep on thinking about what I could have done differently or what didn’t happen, or what happened. I have to think about the next game.”
-Reuters
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Arsenal will be without injured England attacker Noni Madueke when they face Southampton in Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final, but Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber may return from injury, manager Mikel Arteta said.
Madueke was among the 11 Arsenal players who withdrew from international duty last month over injuries and fitness management, as the club eye their first Premier League title since 2004.
“When you have to communicate the state of every player, we are always honest and a medical decision had to be made. That was clear what the conclusion was,” Arteta told reporters on Friday.
“It makes us so proud that we had that many players in the national team. Players are desperate to play for their nation. I know how important it is to them. We are fully supportive of that and when we can do it, we do it.”
Madueke picked up a knee injury during England’s friendly with Uruguay, missing the game against Japan. But Arteta said his condition was not as bad as a knee injury that kept him out for six weeks.
Martin Zubimendi, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Timber, Leandro Trossard, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice were unavailable for their countries.
Arteta did not disclose how many of them will be available for Saturday’s game, as Arsenal look to shake off last month’s League Cup final loss to Manchester City with a return to Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals.
“We’re in a position right now where we need to make the strongest line-up we possibly can to win every competition,” he said. ” We are two or three games away from the FA Cup and we know how important that competition is for us.”
-Reuters
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Manchester City will look to secure a historic eighth straight semi-final appearance in the FA Cup when they face Liverpool on Saturday, manager Pep Guardiola said.
City beat Arsenal to win the League Cup before the international break, and Guardiola is hoping his team maintain the momentum as they fight to add the FA Cup and Premier League to this season’s trophy haul.
“Once you finish one, it is the next one,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.
“Tomorrow we have the chance to reach an incredible milestone, to make eight semi-finals in a row. It’s never happened… it is a prestigious competition, and one of the toughest, special opponents for all of us, Liverpool.”
City have dominated English football with six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and five League Cups since Guardiola joined in 2016, but Liverpool have been a constant thorn in his side throughout his coaching career.
As a coach, Guardiola has only nine victories and seven draws in 26 matches against Liverpool, his worst win rate against a Premier League club.
City have beaten Liverpool twice in the Premier League this season, but had to dig deep for a late comeback when they won 2-1 at Anfield in February.
“So many times they have been the rival, the biggest, biggest one… top contender, top class players, all of them. Hopefully we have to perform in the level we did against Arsenal to reach the next step,” Guardiola said.
The manager also praised Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, who has announced his departure in the summer.
“Absolutely. One of the greatest. The numbers, the consistency. What a player… absolute legend, of course for Liverpool, but (also) for the Premier League,” Guardiola said.
Guardiola, however, avoided commenting on his own midfielder Rodri, who said he was open to a move to Real Madrid when his contract with City runs out at the end of this season.
“No clue, no opinion… because I know the intention of the club, I know the intention, I think, of him, but I don’t know,” Guardiola said.’
-Reuters
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