Crystal Palace or Man City? Alan Shearer makes FA Cup final prediction

Alan Shearer is backing ‘absolutely outstanding’ Crystal Palace to give Manchester City a run for their money in the FA Cup final.

City reached their third consecutive final on Sunday after defeating Nottingham Forest 2-0 at Wembley.

Not counting this summer’s Club World Cup, the FA Cup is the only major silverware Pep Guardiola’s side can win this season and failure to do so would mean a first trophyless season for the club since 2016/17.

Standing in their way will be Palace who have reached the final for only the third time in their history and did so by thumping Aston Villa 3-0 on Saturday.

Eberechi Eze’s stunning strike and Ismaila Sarr’s second-half brace secured an impressive win and they could have scored more with Jean-Philippe Mateta having a goal disallowed and missing a penalty.

‘I gave Eze man of the match [but] if I could have waited two or three more minutes then I would have probably given it to Sarr,’ former England striker Shearer said on The Rest is Football podcast.

‘Having said that, Adam Wharton, Daniel Munoz, Chris Richards, Dean Henderson made two great saves at crucial times, Mateta missed a penalty but oh my god what about his work rate and his hold up play and giving those Villa centre-halves a torrid time.

‘There were so many impressive performances and I thought Crystal Palace were absolutely outstanding. I thought their fans were superb the way they backed their team and it was a brilliant atmosphere.’

Though a poor season by their own high standards, City should go into the final as favourites to win an eighth FA Cup, while Palace have never won a major trophy.

But there has already been one major upset this season when Newcastle defeated Premier League champions Liverpool to win the Carabao Cup in March – their first domestic trophy in 70 years.

And Shearer believes that another upset could be on the cards, adding: ‘If Palace bring their A-game, like they did against Aston Villa, against Manchester City…

‘In any given year over the past few years, you went, “Man City going in against Palace? Oh Man City are going to win”. Not this year.

‘I promise you that is a tough one to call because the way Palace are playing, their forwards and how special those players are, they’ve got a great chance of lifting the FA Cup this year. It’s incredible it really is.’

The 2025 FA Cup final takes place at Wembley on Saturday, May 17.

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