FA Cup Final Odds: Fred says Rashford to score first at 14/1

Wembley Stadium hosts the FA Cup final on Saturday (15:00) as Manchester United and Manchester City compete for the prestigious trophy.

Betfred boss Fred Done, a lifelong United fan, has cast his eye over the FA Cup final odds and given a 14/1 first goalscorer suggestion.

I'm backing man on a mission Marcus Rashford to answer his critics in style at Wembley on Saturday afternoon.

He's an eye-catching 14/1 with us to score the opener for clear outsiders United against Manchester rivals and odds-on favourites City.

The 26-year-old academy product has had a rollercoaster journey of late, finding the net just eight times this season compared to 30 in 2022/23.

Having established himself as an England regular, national coach Gareth Southgate dropped a bombshell this week, leaving him out of the squad for the Euros this summer.

But now I reckon we'll see what Rashford is made of.

He's a misunderstood fella who needs to again prove to himself and everyone else what a great player he is. As is often said in football - form is temporary and class is permanent.

If you think, as I do, that the FA Cup final will be a closer game than many pundits and fans alike are predicting, Betfred are 15/2 about it being a repeat of last season's result - 2-1 to City.

Manchester City vs Manchester United Odds

City to win 3-0 is 8/1, while United to achieve the same scoreline is a whopping 110/1. Attractive? I think so.

We're 40/1 for the Reds to win both halves, which is possible in a one-off game, even against the best club side on the planet.

For that to happen the United squad, knowing their future at the club may depend on it, will need to be on the very top of their game and hope the Blues have an off day.

Last season, under the same manager Eric Ten Hag, we were so much better while City have again strengthened, so the narrative is the Reds are in for a spanking in the 143rd FA Cup final.

It's certainly true that United are going backwards at the moment, with Ten Hag under enormous pressure to hang on to his job even if he beats the odds and wins another piece of silverware this weekend.

But you know my team can turn up for the big games, and pride is at stake.

The fact is that on current form, none of the United team would get a starting place in a joint Manchester team - although long-term Kobbie Mainoo and Garnacho would be in with a decent shout.

I just hope United follow the route City did with Phil Foden in regards to our academy product Mainoo and take things nice and steady, developing him to be a  world-class midfielder.

In other news, the way a sizeable number of the Reds faithful stayed behind to applaud their fading heroes following the horrendous 4-0 hammering at Crystal Palace had me scratching my head.

But my theory is that the club's history around the Busby Babes, the Munich tragedy and then the all-conquering Sir Alex Ferguson regime is seeing us through.

The fact is that loyalty is not to be taken for granted, so we Reds want a passionate at the very least hard-working performance against a team marshalled by the best manager in the world in Pep Guardiola.

City's squad is that good that even the club's secondary XI would hold its own in the Premier League - and possibly even achieve a top-four finish which United dismally failed to do this season.

Anyway, one last look at some of the the odds for the final.

There's no prizes for guessing City's superstar striker Erling Haaland is our favourite to bag the opener at 9/4 - while red-hot Foden is 4/1 to score first.

Find more Football Betting Tips here at Betfred Insights