FA Cup Final Team Guide: Manchester City v Watford
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The Premier League is all wrapped up and the two big European finals are yet to come. That leaves a nice slot in the middle for the 2019 FA Cup final between Manchester City and Watford at Wembley Stadium.
Both sideshad to overcome tricky semi-final ties to reach the North London finale afterentering the competition at the third round stage. Now they’ll go head-to-headfor the famous old pot at 5:00pm on Saturday 18th May.
You can watch the match live on BBC1 or BT Sport 2. Ahead of the showdown, we’re on hand to give an in-depth look at the two teams, their respective routes to the 138th final and the key players to watch out for.
Manchester City
Man City areno strangers to winning the FA Cup. The Cityzens have lifted the trophy on fiveseparate occasions between their first success in 1904 against Bolton Wanderersand their most recent in 2011 v Stoke City.
That makesthem the joint-sixth most successful side in the history of the competition. Asixth victory against Watford at Wembley would draw them alongside BlackburnRovers and Newcastle United in the all-time list.
Pep Guardiolawill be hoping the 138th final isn’t quite as close as the 32nd. City won that1-0 against Bolton at Crystal Palace courtesy of William Meredith’s 23rd-minutegoal to lift their first major honour.
Anothersuccess would have to wait until 1934 when Samuel Tilson scored twice to downPortsmouth 2-1 at Wembley. That FA Cup victory was followed three years laterby a maiden first division title.
A furtherlean spell followed after the war prior to a runner-up finish in the cup in1955 and then a third trophy against Birmingham City in 1956. Leicester Citywere beaten 1-0 in 1969 for their fourth Wembley win.
City were back at Wembley in 1981 as they lost 3-2 in a replay against Tottenham Hotspur. That would prove to be their last visit for an FA Cup final until Sheikh Mansour’s takeover of the club in 2008.
After renewedinvestment on and off the field, the Cityzens were back at Wembley in 2011 foran FA Cup Final against Stoke City. Yaya Toure scored the only goal of the gameas City triumphed 1-0.
WiganAthletic shocked City in the final two years later as Ben Watson scored a 90th-minutewinner to secure a first major win for the Latics in one of the biggest cupfinal shocks in modern history.
Who is the Manchester City manager?
Pep Guardiolais probably the most recognisable manager in world football. The Catalan coachhas won everything there is to win in the club game across spells at Barcelona,Bayern Munich and Manchester City.
He hascollected an incredible 25 major honours as a manager alongside 14 as a player.The 48-year-old has been hugely successful in Manchester, but it was atBarcelona where the Spaniard made his name in the dugout.
Guardiolaassembled one of the best teams in the history of the game at Camp Nou. LionelMessi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta was at its core as Barca tiki-taka’d their wayto a hat-trick of La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues.
After fourfabulous seasons in Catalonia, Guardiola then took a year out of the gamebefore returning to manage Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. Surprisinglyenough his success continued apace.
He won ahat-trick of Bundesliga titles and two DFB-Pokal trophies during his time atthe Allianz Arena, although a third Champions League title would elude him withthree successive semi-final defeats.
Then it wasonto Man City. The club was effectively built in his image following thetakeover in 2008 with the belief that one day Guardiola would come on board totake them to the next level.
Things didn’tstart brightly during the 2016-17 season as City finished third behind Chelseaand Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. It remains the only season inmanagement where Guardiola has not won a trophy.
No matter; the2017-18 campaign made up for lost time. Despite going out of the FA Cup at thelast-16 stage, Guardiola led City to a magical 100 points and their firstleague title since 2014.
Aftercompleting a domestic double last term, this time he’s on for Englishfootball’s first ever domestic treble after securing a second successive Premtitle and the 2018-19 Carabao Cup.
Who are Manchester City’s key players?
Ask Guardiolaand he’d say that City don’t have one key player; they have 11. But thatdoesn’t really work for this section, so we’ve pinpointed three who will becrucial at Wembley in the FA Cup final.
Sergio Aguero is the obvious one to look at. TheArgentine is City’s all-time leading scorer and has 32 goals in 46 appearancesthis season. That includes two in two matches in the FA Cup.
He has formedan incredible partnership with RaheemSterling this term. The England ace has come on leaps and bounds underGuardiola and recently won the 2018-19 Football Writers’ Player of the Yearaward.
His movement andpace terrifies defenders. 23 goals in 50 matches isn’t a bad return for Cityeither, especially when you add in the10 assists he’s provided in the Premier League too – the joint-sixth best inthe division.
Bernardo Silva has also established himself as oneof the Cityzens’ go-to men. Signed for £43m in May 2017, the Portugueseplaymaker links everything up in the middle of the park.
He’s thenatural successor to namesake David and will be the crucial calming influencefor City on the ball at Wembley as they go in search of an historic treble.
What was Manchester City’s route to the final?
ManchesterCity have scored 20 and conceded just four goals in five matches en-route tothe FA Cup final. That paints a picture of total dominance, but it hasn’t beenquite as easy as you might think for Guardiola and co.
Their 7-0annihilation of Rotherham United and in round three and a 5-0 success overBurnley in round four were routine. But a 4-1 success at League Two sideNewport County in round five was fraught with trouble.
Leroy Saneand Phil Foden shot City into a 2-0 lead in South Wales but the Exiles huffedand puffed on their bobbly pitch and got their reward as Padraig Amond pulledone back in the 88th minute. City eventually won 4-1.
Similarly,the Cityzens had to come from 2-0 behind against Swansea City in thequarter-final after Matt Grimes and Bersant Celina put the Swans in front.Aguero scored the crucial winner with just two minutes remaining.
That set up a semi-final with Brighton & Hove Albion, where Gabriel Jesus’s fourth-minute strike was enough for the victory despite the best efforts of Lewis Dunk in the second-half for the Seagulls.
Watford
Manchester City boast a rich FA Cup heritage. Watford don’t have quite the same claim to fame. The Hornets have never won the famous old pot. They’ve only reached the final once – all the way back in 1984.
Their finalappearance against Everton was the crowning glory for then-manager GrahamTaylor, who had taken the unfashionable Hertfordshire side all the way from theold fourth division to runners-up in division one.
Unfortunatelyit wasn’t to be for a team which contained the likes of Nigel Callaghan andJohn Barnes. Howard Kendall’s Toffees dispatched them 2-0 with goals eitherside of half-time from Andy Gray and Graeme Sharp.
Their goodform in the competition did at least continue. Watford reached thequarter-finals in three of the next four years. They then had to wait another15 years before reaching the semi-final as a division one side.
The Hornetsput up a valiant effort but ultimately lost out to Southampton at Villa Park astheir quest to reach a second FA Cup final fell agonisingly short.
It was a case of same again in both 2007 and 2016 as semi-final defeats to both Manchester United and Crystal Palace left Watford fans tasting tears instead of champagne. Now that’s all change in 2019.
Who is Watford’s manager?
There are alot of similarities between Guardiola and Watford boss Javi Gracia. Both areSpanish and both were midfielders in their playing days, while the pair areseparated by just one year in terms of age too.
It’s just the25 trophies that separate them as adversaries in the dugout. That said, the48-year-old has done a terrific job in his first season at Vicarage Road tostabilise a club that always seems to be in flux.
The same canbe said of the man himself. Gracia has endured a nomadic jobbing career todate, taking in the likes of Cadiz, Almeria, Osasuna and Rubin Kazan; never stayingmore than two years at one single club.
His biggest achievement prior to reaching the FA Cup final with Watford had been guiding both Pontevedra and Cadiz to Segunda Division B titles in 2007 and 2009. We reckon this probably outstrips those feats.
Gracia hasmanaged to build a stable and effective side that plays an attractive brand offootball while also keeping supporters onside. An 11th place finish in thePremier League – Watford’s best since 1987 – also deserves praise.
In fact, it’seven more remarkable when you consider Gracia was one of the early seasonfavourites to get sacked. Our traders had him down at 6/1 to face the bootbefore a ball had been kicked during the 2018-19 season.
Who are Watford’s key players?
There areplenty of key men who make this Watford side tick. But ex-Barcelona prodigy Gerard Deulofeu has really developed areputation as something of an FA Cup specialist this season.
The tricky25-year-old has settled at Vicarage Road after flitting between Everton,Sevilla and AC Milan. His 10 goals in the league pale in comparison to thevital brace he bagged in the FA Cup semi-final against Wolves.
Without him,the Hornets wouldn’t be facing Man City at Wembley. In many ways he’s aGuardiola style player, and with nine goals to his name since mid-February, he’sbang in form too.
Partner incrime Troy Deeney also represents asignificant threat. The 6ft ace has been at Watford since 2010 and has madeover 250 appearances for the club. He’s the definition of a handful foropposition defenders.
Abdoulaye Doucoure is another City need to watch outfor. Signed from Rennes in 2016, the Frenchman has been the star man atVicarage Road this season and is now reportedly coveted by Paris Saint-Germain.
The26-year-old is a controlling presence in the middle of the park who drives theplay forward. So much so that his game has drawn comparisons with that ofArsenal legend and fellow French ace Patrick Vieira.
What was Watford’s route to the final?
There’salways a potential banana skin game en-route to the FA Cup final. Watford facedtheirs in round three with a visit to Kingfield to take on National LeagueSouth underdogs Woking.
Goals fromWill Hughes and Deeney ensured the Hornets avoided an upset against the Cardsbefore Andre Gray and Isaac Success were on target in another 2-0 win – thistime against Newcastle United – in the fourth round.
A third awaymatch on the spin brought a 1-0 success at Championship outfit Queens ParkRangers courtesy of Etienne Capoue’s exquisite strike.
He was ontarget yet again in the quarter-finals, as the Hornets edged past CrystalPalace 2-1 in a rematch of the 2013 Championship play-off final. Gray scoredthe crucial winner to cancel out Michy Batshuayi’s equaliser.
That set upan intriguing semi-final clash with Wolves which many predicted could be an FACup classic. Luckily enough for all us neutrals, they weren’t wrong.
Nuno EspiritoSanto’s men looked to have it won thanks to a strike apiece from Matt Dohertyand Raul Jimenez. But Watford didn’t give up and pulled one back throughDeulofeu’s sublime chip with 10 minutes to play.
Deeney thenbrought the Hornets back on terms with an ice-cool 90th-minute penalty, before Deulofeurounded off his super-sub performance with an extra-time winner which squirmedunder the body of keeper John Ruddy.
