Man City vs Man United Prediction: Rodri to come up clutch again

It's FA Cup final weekend and for the second year running, English football's most prestigious cup competition will be contested between two Manchester rivals, City and United.

Read below for my Man City vs Man United prediction ahead of Saturday's 15:00 kick-off at Wembley, which will be shown live in the UK on BBC One and ITV1.

Reigning FA Cup holders Man City head into Saturday's contest in high spirits after clinching their fourth consecutive Premier League title last weekend, and will be confident of beating their neighbours at Wembley again after Ilkay Gundogan's brace helped them to a 2-1 win over the Red Devils last year.

United captain Bruno Fernandes scored a penalty in that, ultimately unsuccessful, final in June 2023, but has been unable to inspire his side to greater heights this season, with Erik ten Hag's team finishing eighth in the Premier League, a whopping 31 points behind the champions.

The gap in quality was evident in both league games, particularly in the 3-0 win City enjoyed at Old Trafford in October when an Erling Haaland double and a strike from Phil Foden embarrassed United on home soil.

Events were closer at the Etihad in March as Marcus Rashford scored in the eighth minute to have the Red Devils leading for 48 minutes, but the same men struck again for City in the second half, this time Foden bagging twice and Haaland just helping himself to the one.

Team News

Man City goalkeeper Ederson has been ruled out of Saturday's final after fracturing his eye socket against Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month, meaning Stefan Ortega is set to deputise in goal, with veteran Scott Carson providing cover on the bench.

Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji and Josip Gvardiol have been the preferred four-man defence in City's last three matches, but John Stones and Nathan Ake will both be hoping to force their way into the starting XI.

Mateo Kovacic is expected to return to the midfield alongside Rodri, and with Kevin De Bruyne, Foden, Bernardo Silva and Haaland all fixtures in the side, Jeremy Doku is the most likely to make way for the Croatian.

Man United defenders Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw are major injury doubts for Saturday, while Tyrell Malacia hasn't featured in 2024 and will miss out again.

Victor Lindelof, Mason Mount and Anthony Martial have all missed games recently, but there is a chance at least one will make the bench at Wembley, with all three pictured taking part in training this week.

Andre Onana will line up in goal for the Red Devils in front of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Diogo Dalot, with Sofyan Amrabat and Kobbie Mainoo likely to be offering the protection in front.

Fernandes, Scott McTominay, Alejandro Garnacho and Amad have all started United's last two matches and appear to be the favoured quartet at the top end of the pitch, though Rasmus Hojlund and Rashford will both be pushing for starts.

Man City vs Man United Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Man City vs Man United page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Man City are heavy favourites at 1/3 to triumph inside regulation time on Saturday, giving them an implied win probability of 75%, while Man United are 8/1, or an 11.1% chance, to claim victory.

The draw, which would send the tie to extra time at Wembley, can be backed at 4/1, while both teams to score is available at 8/11.

Haaland is 9/4 to open the scoring and 11/4 to score at least twice again.

Betfred will be Top Price or joint Top Price on Man City to beat Man United in 90 minutes with selected bookmakers using oddschecker.com for the comparison (Available from 09:30 Saturday)

Rodri anytime goalscorer @ 100/30

Man City are heavily fancied to lift the FA Cup for the third time in Pep Guardiola's tenure, and for good reason - they're Premier League champions and are playing against a side who have been woeful all season.

Naturally, there is little value to be had in backing City, so I'm looking to the anytime goalscorer market where Rodri, scorer of many a clutch goal, can be backed at 100/30.

As someone seen as a more defensively-minded midfielder, one who has never scored in any of his 13 games against Man United, Rodri isn't the obvious shout to find the net on Saturday, which goes some way to explaining his price.

However, the Spaniard has made himself well known with several important goals for City since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2019, most notably netting the winner in his side's Champions League final victory over Inter Milan last year.

This season has actually been his most prolific one in front of goal in his career, with nine strikes from 49 appearances so far, the latest of which came in a 3-1 win against West Ham United last Sunday to seal the league title for the Citizens.

It took City less than a minute last year to take the lead in the FA Cup final as Gundogan beat David De Gea from distance. The German midfielder is now gone, as is United's De Gea, but in the goalkeeper's place is Onana, who has also struggled with long-distance efforts.

Rodri can be lethal from outside the box, or inside from set pieces, which I expect City to win plenty of on Saturday, and he could well bag himself another crucial goal to further cement himself in City folklore.

Bruno Fernandes to be carded @ 15/8

It has been a tumultuous campaign for the Portugal international, with his club side struggling and his form questioned in the first half of the campaign.

The 29-year-old has certainly picked up during the last few months, scoring seven goals in April alone, and he picked up the Man United Player of the Season award earlier this week.

Aside from his ability, though, his temperament has also come under the microscope, and he has picked up 12 yellow cards across all competitions this term, including one in United's 3-0 loss to City at Old Trafford in October.

Fernandes will be leading the United charge on Saturday to help his side avoid another embarrassing defeat this season, meaning he should be in the thick of the action, and his frustrations could come to the fore at any point, incurring the wrath of the referee.

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