The FA Cup
The 2022–23 FA Cup is the 142nd edition of the oldest football tournament in the world, the Football Association Challenge Cup.
The final will take place at Wembley Stadium on Saturday June 3, 2023 between Manchester City and Manchester United.
FA Cup Final 2023
The FA Cup Final of 2023 will see a Manchester derby with Premier League Champions Manchester City taking on EFL Cup winners Manchester United. To add extra spice to the match City are chasing a treble, with the Champions League final against Inter Milan the following week. This would emulate the feat of city rivals United in 1999. The Red Devils will be looking to claim a domestic club double and prevent their neighbours from joining the exclusive club of treble winners. While City are looking for a seventh FA Cup win, the Red Devils are hoping to win the competition for the 13th time.
Pep Guardiola’s side go into the match as favourites, having been in irresistable form during the second half of the season. However, Erik ten Hag has made great progress with his Man United side and they have proved this season that they can be a force to be reckoned with. Especially in big games.
A much-rotated City side were beaten 1-0 at Brentford in their final league fixture of the season last Sunday, ending an incredible 25-game unbeaten run in all competitions. However, Guardiola is keen to have his key players fresh for the final two legs of City’s treble bid and he has managed the minutes of his squad superbly all season.
City have beaten Chelsea, Arsenal, Bristol City, Burnley and Sheffield United to book their place in the final. Remarkably they are still yet to concede in this year’s competition. Only Preston North End in 1889 and Bury in 1903 have ever won the FA Cup without conceding a single goal, so if City were to pull this off in the modern era it would be yet another stupendous achievement for Guardiola.
Team News: Manchester City
Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji and Jack Grealish are all slight doubts after missing the defeat against Brentford due to minor fitness concerns.
Nathan Ake returned to the side against Brentford after a hamstring injury and the Dutchman is in contention to start. John Stones is set to return. Stefan Ortega has kept goal in four out of City’s five FA Cup matches this season and could start ahead of first choice goalkeeper Ederson.
Skipper Ilkay Gundogan is set to return in midfield, and Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden are in contention for the starting spot on the right hand side. Erling Haaland will start up front and will be aiming increase his astounding goal tally of 52 in all competitions.
Team News: Manchester United
Man United enter their 21st FA Cup final – the joint-most of any team in the competition’s history along with Arsenal – in great form after securing third place in the league with four straight wins. United disposed of Everton, Reading, West Ham United, Fulham and Brighton to reach Wembley.
Only Arsenal (14) have ever won the FA Cup on more occasions than Man United (12). They also jointly hold the record for the most FA cup final defeats, eight alongside Chelsea and Everton.
Anthony Martial has been ruled out with a hamstring injury and Lisandro Martinez (foot), Marcel Sabitzer, Donny van de Beek (both knee), and Tom Heaton (ankle) are also set to be unavailable.
Antony could recover in time for the final despite being stretchered off with an ankle problem in the win over Chelsea, though he will probably have to settle for a place on the bench.
Luke Shaw is fit to return while Raphael Varane is set to partner Victor Lindelof in central defence.
Top scorer Marcus Rashford and midfielder Casemiro, both on target in the EFL Cup final, are both set to start.
FA Cup 2023 Latest Odds Outright Winner
| Manchester City | 2/7 | William Hill/Betfred/ BoyleSports/Coral/ Ladbrokes/BetVictor |
Manchester United | 3/1 | Betway/bet365/ Paddy Power/Betfair/ Quinnbet |
FA Cup Final 2023 90 minutes
| Manchester City | Draw | Manchester United |
| 1/2 | 15/4 | 11/2 |
| bet365/Paddy Power/ Betfair/Betfred/ BoyleSports bet365/Paddy Power/ Betfair/Betfred/ BoyleSports | bet365 | William Hill |
Tip: Manchester City to win, both teams to score: 37/20 BetUK
Odds correct as of 02.06.23 at 11:15. Odds subject to change
Wembley Stadium
Wembley opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished between 2002 to 2003. The stadium hosts major football matches including home matches of the England national football team, and the FA Cup Final. Wembley Stadium is owned by the governing body of English football, the Football Association, whose headquarters are in the stadium. With 90,000 seats, it is the largest stadium in the UK and the second-largest stadium in Europe.[10]
In addition to England home games and the FA Cup final, the stadium also hosts other major games in English football, including the traditional season-opener, the FA Community Shield, the League Cup final, the FA Cup semi-finals, the Football League Trophy, the Football League play-offs, the FA Trophy, the FA Vase and the National League play-offs.
Wembley is a UEFA category four stadium and hosted the 2011 and 2013 UEFA Champions League Finals, eight games at UEFA Euro 2020 (including the final and both of the semi-finals) and hosted the final of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022. It is due to host the 2024 UEFA Champions League Final. The stadium hosted the Gold medal matches at the 2012 Olympic Games football tournament. The stadium also hosts rugby league’s Challenge Cup final and music concerts. The stadium also hosted NFL London Games until 2019 and was also the temporary home of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur between August 2017 and March 2019, while White Hart Lane was being demolished and their new stadium was built.
The FA Cup Final
The first FA Cup Final, between Wanderers and Royal Engineers, was held at Kennington Oval on 16 March 1872. Wanderers won 1–0. After the 1873 final was held at Lillie Bridge, the event was held at the Oval until 1892. The 1893 and 1894 finals were respectively held at Fallowfield Stadium in Manchester and Goodison Park in Liverpool, before the event returned to London in 1895, being held at Crystal Palace until the outbreak of World War I. After the war, the event was held at Stamford Bridge, before Wembley Stadium opened in 1923.
The first final at Wembley, which saw Bolton Wanderers beat West Ham United 2–0, had an official attendance of 126,047, but the actual figure is believed to be as much as 300,000. A police horse named Billy was used to regain control after the huge crowd spilled onto the field, earning the final the nickname of the “White Horse Final”. In 1927 “Abide with Me” was sung for the first time at the Cup final. This has become a pre-match tradition.
Wembley continued to host the final until 2000, when it closed for redevelopment. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff hosted the final between 2001 and 2006, before the new Wembley Stadium opened in 2007.
Up to and including 1998, if the final ended in a draw, a replay would be required. This happened on 14 occasions, the last being in 1993 between Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday. In September 1998, the Football Association decided that all future finals would be decided “on the day”, meaning that a penalty shootout would decide the winner if the score was level after normal and extra time.
