FA Cup Final: Can City spark a rebuild with cup win over Palace?

Man City aim to salvage season with FA Cup win vs. Crystal Palace, who seek historic triumph led by Eze in Wembley showdown.

Everything Palace does on Saturday in the FA Cup final will go through Eberechi Eze while Erling Haaland is the man to watch at the other end, which of them will have the telling say at Wembley? (Photo credit: Opta)

Pep Guardiola may have said that FA Cup success won’t erase the disappointments of the season, but even he knows that his team must dig deep to get the right result on Saturday.

The Cityzens have undoubtedly had the worst season under the Spaniard, but they can right some of the wrongs with an FA Cup triumph if they manage to beat Crystal Palace at Wembley, which will represent their only silverware this season.

It feels strange, the FA Cup final before the final round of games for the season. It typically takes place the weekend after the season ends in the league and one weekend before the Champions League final. The upcoming Club World Cup, which Manchester City would take part in, has had a hand in the reshuffle.

Crystal Palace has done well this season. They flirted with relegation at some points but picked themselves up when it mattered, enjoyed the luck of the draw a couple of times and made their own luck the rest of the time.

How do you call a team that clinically destroyed Aston Villa in the semifinal 3-0 a product of luck? They have faced tougher opponents than Manchester City in the competition and deserve to be in the final; now they need to go one step further, which is to win it.

Eberechi Eze will be immense for the Eagles on Saturday. The England playmaker remains the leading light in the Palace team, and much of what they create will come from him, and if Manchester City doesn’t find ways to stop Palace from playing through him, he will hurt them.

Ismaila Sarr and Jean Phillippe Mateta are the beneficiaries of everything Eze does; the likes of Munoz and Lacroix could also feed off him from dead ball situations. City must ensure they don’t concede free kicks near their box or take their eyes off the mercurial playmaker.

For Palace, they know Erling Haaland cannot be isolated. The Norwegian isn’t at his best yet, but you don’t leave anything to chance. With Kevin De Bruyne playing for the fans, cutting supplies from him to the big man upfront is one good way to do themselves a world of good.

It’s uncertain how Pep Guardiola would set up; he has gone into games without wingers before, but he can’t afford to allow Munoz and Tyrick Mitchel the freedom to roam their flanks; he needs Jeremy Doku, Savinho or Omar Marmoush to peg them back.

The midfield battle is another one to keep an eye on. The Eagles will battle hard, but it’s down to Manchester City to impose themselves early; they can’t start slowly like they did in the league against Palace recently when they went two down in the opening fifteen minutes.

A win on Saturday clearly won’t make people forget how City lost consecutive games many times in the course of the season or how they didn’t give Liverpool a show, but it will be a good foundation for a rebuild; it’s on them to prove they want this more.