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Manchester City take on Watford in the FA Cup final this weekend, looking to become the first team in history to win a domestic treble.
Pep Guardiola’s men, of course, romped to the Premier League title, accruing 98 points and ultimately holding off the stunning challenge of Liverpool on the final day with a 4-1 thumping of Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Carabao Cup was secured in February thanks to a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Chelsea and now attention turns back to Wembley.
City take on a Hornets side that finished 11th in the Premier League this term, with Javi Gracia’s side out to become the first Watford team ever to win an FA Cup.
There is a lot riding on this, then. Do two City fans – Football FanCast’s own Jack Saville and Digital Sport editor Chris McMullan – have any worries going into the game? They share their thoughts and predictions below…
Could complacency creep in for a Man City side chasing a domestic treble, given the clear gulf in class between themselves and Watford?
Jack: “Pep Guardiola’s sides simply don’t allow complacency to slip in. His players are more hungry and determined than they have ever been and you only need to appreciate the extent of their mettle in the final weeks of the title race to know that they’ll be well up for the FA Cup final.
“City will have enjoyed their title celebrations last weekend and who can blame them after the season they’ve had, but rest assured they will have been back on the training ground this week ahead of a fixture which could seal their place in history.”
Chris: “When Sky Sports interviewed Vincent Kompany on the pitch at the Amex Stadium on Sunday afternoon, holding an infectious grin and a near-empty bottle of champagne, I did find myself doing a bit of a double take.
“Then again, he was also wearing a Premier League winners’ medal around his tree-trunk of a neck. That piece of gold was won thanks to the unerring consistency needed to win the final 14 games in a row and finish on 98 points, so if complacency does creep in it will be a surprise: and at this point, City’s players have earned the benefit of the doubt.”
City have been an irrepressible winning machine this season but one feels that Watford will have to rely on them having an off day to have any chance whatsoever on Saturday.
Indeed, the Hornets have never beaten City in the Premier League era in any competition; their last victory over the Blues came in 1989 in Division Two.
How times have changed.
It remains to be seen, however, which City team they will come up against this weekend, given the depth of talent at Guardiola’s disposal…
Is there any chance that Pep will spring another surprise with his team selection? Lots of fans seemed shocked Riyad Mahrez played against Brighton.
Jack: “I, like the vast majority of supporters, was stunned to see Mahrez included in the starting XI last weekend, but that only made his title-clinching goal all the sweeter!
“Personally, I don’t envisage a trick up the sleeve on Saturday and I wouldn’t be surprised if City were unchanged from last weekend.
“I expect Leroy Sane to remain on the bench but Mahrez could be axed to make room for one of Kevin de Bruyne or Fernandino, with Bernardo Silva moving onto the right side of the attacking trio.”
Chris: “I’d say there’s every chance. When it works, Pep’s a genius, when it doesn’t… well, that big, bulging brain of his has done too much thinking yet again.
The thing is, Watford have played well against City this season. At the Etihad, Javi Gracia rested key players ahead of yet another crucial FA Cup tie, but with the score at 3-0 to City he brought on Troy Deeney and Gerard Deulofeu, who combined to score almost instantly.
“That’s the kind of moment that will have made Pep sit up and take notice.”
Guardiola does love to tinker. His selection of Mahrez was ultimately a masterstroke that led to his side clinching the title but one can never be sure who is going to make up the attack.
We could easily see Gabriel Jesus given a game, for example, with Sergio Aguero dropping to the bench. As Chris says, Pep has often been accused of overthinking; if he plays it simple, City should win.
But Watford, remember, are out to etch their own names into the history books…
Is there any danger in playing a team who have never won the FA Cup?
Jack: “Absolutely. This is one of Watford’s biggest matches in their history and the magnitude of the occasion will undoubtedly give them an extra edge.
“The Hornets have shown they are no mugs this season and their performances against Man City in the league will give their fans a glimmer of hope of springing a major surprise to end the season.
“Javi Gracia has the ammunition to stun City and the favourites will need to dig in to clinch an unprecedented domestic treble.”
Chris: “Oh yes. Watford are a very good football team, and one who have gone strangely under the radar this season.
“City should win this game, but underestimating the Hornets in a Cup final would be a terrible time to get stung.”
Watford don’t get to Wembley all that often and their heroic comeback in the semi-final against Wolves is evidence that they have the stomach for the fight.
They also boast the likes of Deeney and Deulofeu who, on their day, are game-changers.
City, of course, know all about falling at the final hurdle due to an unfancied rival…
Are there any echoes of the Wigan final in 2013 when a totally unfancied team turned up and spoiled City’s day?
Jack: “I wouldn’t say so no.
“I think it undermines the quality of this Watford side to compare this fixture to the 2013 final. Wigan’s victory was a smash and grab triumph during a period of unrest behind the scenes at City.
“This time around City are strong from the hierarchy right the way through to the kitman, and they won’t be putting in a performance as abject as the one that cost them FA Cup glory in 2013.
“If Watford pull off an upset it will be an achievement which far exceeds what Wigan did in 2013.”
Chris: “There are echoes of it, but they’re faint.
“Minds will certainly turn to that day when Ben Watson – himself formerly of the Vicarage Road parish – nodded in a late winner, reminiscent of Glenn Murray’s goal against City on Sunday.
“But that was a very different team to this year’s side. Roberto Mancini was relieved of his duties shortly after the 2013 Wembley defeat, but that owed more to his deteriorating relationship with players and board than the humiliation of losing to a team who would go on to get relegated three days later. The 2019 side are 90 minutes from history, not 90 minutes from utter disarray.”
Both Jack and Chris are right to point out that Mancini’s empire was crumbling at the Etihad.
Guardiola, meanwhile, has just built his castle and is surveying all that he has won in his time in Manchester.
They should be mindful, though, of the threat posed by Watford; City underestimated Wigan in 2013, and Guardiola will be at pains to ensure that doesn’t happen again, particularly with his side on the precipice of something really quite remarkable…
If City win, are they the greatest domestic team of all time?
Jack: “I don’t think there’s any doubt that they’ll be the greatest team if they’re not already.
“That they managed to pip Liverpool to the Premier League title just one year on from lifting the trophy with a tally of 100 points is probably enough to vindicate that label, but becoming the first team to win a domestic treble will absolutely clinch it.”
Chris: “I think they already are. In an era when the FA Cup and the League Cup seem to matter less and less, it’s refreshing to see a club take them as seriously as City, but surely you only have to look at 198 points over two seasons and conclude that they are indeed the best.
“There’ll be a debate about that of course – arguing over the best teams in history is one of football’s greatest pleasures – and I get the argument that other sides have won all of the domestic trophies, but the fact remains that over two full seasons City have dropped 30 points.
“If the 22 other teams to have played Premier League football in that time pooled the points they won from the back-to-back champions, they wouldn’t even have a sniff of survival.”
No team has ever got close to what City have achieved over two seasons.
Prior to Guardiola’s appointment, no team in Premier League history had accrued 100 points but he did it and then he went within two of doing it again.
The bar has been forever raised by the Catalan and this City side and it now seems that the top of the table is a private club that can only be entered if you boast around 18 genuinely world-class footballers in your ranks.
The lads are right to claim that City probably already are the best domestic team this country has ever seen; they just need to crown it…
What’s your score prediction?
Jack: “I think this will be a tightly-fought game separated by two moments of quality either side of half time: 2-0 to City.”
Chris: “On the FiF pod this week I said 3-1 to City, so I’d look pretty foolish changing it now.”