FA Cup final: Manchester City vs. Watford – The domestic treble is calling Pep
The transfer window is open, finals of all the cups are about to be played, football is at the peak of its powers. What can we expect from the FA Cup final when Manchester City and Watford meet at Wembley?
It’s David versus Goliath in the final edition of the 2018-19 FA Cup. One club is en route to their third piece of silverware this season alone, while the other searches for their first title. The Premier League champions Manchester City are flying at the moment after just retaining the all-important English title.
It was a long, tiring, and gruelling battle between them and challengers, Liverpool. Thankfully, that’s all behind Pep and his Man City squad and now face a different battle against a side living their FA Cup dream.
Countless sacrifices were made while on their FA Cup journey. Watford was one of the better teams outside of the top six, if not, the best squad. However, from the surprise of travelling as far as the final in the old cup, decisions had to be made by Gracia. It was the cup or a higher league position finish. They opted for the cup.
The favourites for the cup – Manchester City
The boys in blue are looking for their first FA title with Pep after missing out last season and the season before that. The Citizens’ visit to Wigan last season was met with defeat. Fortunately, they’ve passed all trials leading to this point and are making history in the process.
City’s playing for their sixth FA Cup title, but their first one since 2011. While City have dominated the Premier League this decade, winning 4 of the last 8 titles, they have fallen short in the 2 most important cup competitions every single year – the Champions League and the FA Cup. While their European struggles will continue into next season at the least, they have an excellent opportunity to erase their FA Cup woes here.
PEP 💬 Hopefully we can celebrate the FA Cup Final, the Premier League, the Carabao Cup and the Community Shield, on Saturday and especially Monday with our fans and the people.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 17, 2019
Manchester City didn’t exactly have a particularly challenging run to the cup final, beating Brighton, Swansea, Newport County, Burnley, and Rotherham United en route to Wembley, but a cup final is a cup final no matter what.
No men’s team has ever won a domestic treble before, and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have an excellent opportunity to write their names in the history books by being the first to do so.
"“In one game, anything can happen. Normally the better team wins but a decision of the referee could make the difference.“In the Premier League you have another chance and can be more relaxed, but this is completely different.” – Pep Guardiola"
The heavy underdogs – Javi Gracia’s Watford
When the FA Cup wound down to its final few rounds, not many expected Watford to be playing in the final at Wembley. After all, they had Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers on their side of the bracket, while having to face Crystal Palace in a tough fixture in the quarter-finals. Luckily for Watford, Wolves managed to defeat Manchester United, and Javi Gracia’s men scraped a sensational 3-2 win over Wolves in extra time to earn their place in the final.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though, Watford are a heavy underdog for this fixture. While the “magic of the cup” is of course still a possible outcome, and Watford are still a good enough team to challenge City in 90 minutes, it’s likely that the pace and quality of their opposition will be too much for them to handle. However, just making it to the final is a dream come true for the Hornets, who weren’t even a Premier League club just a few years ago.
Playing as the underdog has massive benefits however. While Watford will desperately want a trophy to add to their cabinet, they still wont have nearly as much pressure as Manchester City in this final, and that could play into their hands.
The Hornets have never won the FA Cup before, and their best ever finish was a loss in the final to Everton back in 1984.
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While Watford had hopes to qualify for the 2019-20 Europa League through the Premier League this season, they slid down the table toward the end and couldn’t make that dream a reality through that route. However, winning the FA Cup still grants them that opportunity, which gives them extra incentive to try and pull off the upset. As for Manchester City, they too will have pressure, but to deliver the first domestic treble that English men’s football has ever seen.