Crystal Palace vs. Man United
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Kick off: 5:30pm
Louis van Gaal will attempt to win his first trophy as Manchester United boss when his team face fellow Premier League side, Crystal Palace, in the 2016 FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday (today).
Man United will be looking to end a 12-year wait for an FA Cup trophy in what is a repeat of the 1990 final, when the Red Devils triumphed courtesy of a 1-0 replay success.
Alan Pardew was part of the Palace team that lost to Man United in the 1990 FA Cup final, but the 54-year-old has insisted that he will not be out for revenge when he leads the Eagles into battle this weekend.
“There’s no revenge. This is about this team getting to a cup final and winning it. We’re not going to drown ourselves in 1990,” Pardew told reporters during his pre-match press conference.
There is no question that Palace will enter as the underdogs, but their form in this season’s competition will have given them plenty of confidence. Indeed, they have had to overcome four Premier League sides to reach the final – beating Southampton, Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur, Reading and Watford to make today’s conclusion.
Wembley could indeed be the venue for Van Gaal’s final match in charge of Man United. The Dutchman is being widely tipped to depart Old Trafford this summer and an FA Cup trophy would be the perfect way to depart under the circumstances.
Man United made a brave challenge for a top-four Premier League finish in the last couple of months, but they ultimately fell short of Manchester City on goal difference, which will have been even more difficult to take.
This is Man United’s first appearance in the FA Cup final since 2007 and they have not lifted the trophy since beating Millwall 3-0 in the 2004 final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. That said, they have been victorious on 11 occasions in this competition, with only Arsenal (12) claiming the trophy more times.
Overall, the 20-time English champions have reached the FA Cup final on 18 occasions – recording 11 wins and suffering seven defeats. There will be no Champions League football at Old Trafford next season, but there is no playing down the importance of this match in terms of the future of Van Gaal and the club as a whole.
Palace possible starting lineup: Hennessey, Ward, Dann, Delaney, Souare, Cabaye, McArthur, Puncheon, Bolasie, Wickham, Zaha.
Man United possible starting lineup: De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Blind, Borthwick-Jackson, Carrick, Rooney, Martial, Mata, Lingard, Rashford.