Manchester City have one final shot at avoiding a rare trophyless season under Pep Guardiola as the club meets Crystal Palace in FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday.
City are unbeaten in 10 games, including a 5-2 demolition of Palace in the Premier League last month despite falling 2-0 behind.
City’s fightback at the Etihad Stadium that day was sparked by Kevin De Bruyne rolling back the years.
The Belgian has just three games left as a City player after a glorious decade in Manchester and will be aiming to add one more to his 14 major honours with the club.
After an unprecedented four consecutive English top-flight titles, City find themselves battling just to secure a top-five Premier League finish and a place in next season’s Champions League.
Anything other than victory would cap what City striker Erling Haaland described as a “horrendous” campaign for a squad of serial winners.
City have not ended a season without a trophy since Guardiola’s first at the club in 2016/17.
Meanwhile, two-time FA Cup runners-up, Palace have never won a major trophy in their 119-year history.
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The Eagles sense this may finally be their time up against a City side far from their former glories of Guardiola’s trophy-laden reign.
Palace warmed up for the Wembley showpiece by cruising to a 2-0 win at Tottenham last weekend to equal their record of 49 Premier League points with two games of the season to spare.
The south London club finished in the top 10 for the first time in the Premier League era last season after just a few months under Oliver Glasner.
Another top half finish looks unlikely, but progress has continued under the Austrian thanks to their FA Cup heroics, including a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Champions League quarter-finalists Aston Villa in the last four.
Eberechi Eze is the main man for City to fear with five goals in his last four games.
But he is one of just four England internationals who reached the final of Euro 2024 likely to start for Palace on Saturday alongside Dean Henderson, Marc Guehi, and Adam Wharton.
Victory would also secure entry to one of Europe’s major club competitions for the first time in Palace’s history with a place in the Europa League at stake.
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