FA Cup Final: Latest Manchester United team news vs Manchester City

Manchester United’s season comes to a close this Saturday with a trip to Wembley to take on local rivals, Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

Erik ten Hag’s maiden season as Manchester United boss can be considered a success already by many. A third-place finish, return to the Champions League, and the League Cup is an impressive debut season by all accounts – especially considering what the United boss inherited and how the season started.

That 4-0 defeat against Brentford now feels like a lifetime ago and not many supporters would have envisaged ending the season with a trip to Wembley. Even fewer would have imagined that it would have been against Manchester City and an opportunity to prevent Pep Guardiola’s men from completing a historic treble.

Manchester City have been unstoppable in the run-in, thwarting Arsenal to the Premier League title and sweeping aside challenges abroad to make the Champions League final. The FA Cup is the prize on offer this Saturday but there’s a bigger picture when it comes to the bragging rights in Manchester. Here is the team news ahead of the FA Cup final.

Manchester United team news

The big team news coming out of Old Trafford earlier this week was Anthony Martial being ruled out of the final with a hamstring injury. Whilst it shouldn’t come as much of a shock due to the consistent unavailability of the Frenchman, it’s still a blow to Ten Hag’s side as Martial almost certainly would have started the game.

It’s not all bad news, however. Antony was thought to be out for the remainder of the season after suffering an injury in the game against Chelsea, with Ten Hag confirming is it “unlikely” that Antony will be able to play.

“Antony still [has] a chance but a really small chance,” Ten Hag said on Friday. “He didn’t make progress, so he still has a chance but unlikely he is available.”

Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw should return to the starting line-up after being unused substitutes in the Premier League curtain closer at the weekend.

Lisandro Martinez, Marcel Sabitzer and Donny van de Beek remain sidelined.

Manchester City team news

Pep Guardiola has a relatively clean bill of health amongst his squad as they pursue their quest for the treble. Kevin de Bruyne was left out of the Brentford game at the weekend due to being ‘mentally completely drained’. City’s talisman should be in line to return for both finals after the short rest.

Manuel Akanji, Jack Grealish and Ruben Dias also missed the final game of the Premier League season due to minor complaints but it would be safe to assume all will be available for the Wembley showcase.

There are no other concerns amongst the City squad and the only real influence on Pep Guardiola’s team selection could be the Champions League final next Saturday.

Guardiola also confirmed on Friday afternoon that Stephan Ortega will start in goal over Ederson.