Manchester City vs Manchester United – FA Cup final LIVE: Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag go head-to-head at Wembley Stadium

Follow Mail Sport’s live blog as rivals Manchester City and Manchester United go head-to-head in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium. 

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Erik ten Hag does have more significant selection concerns ahead of today’s final.

Antony, the Brazilian winger, was carried off on a stretcher in United’s 4-1 win over Chelsea on May 25 and Ten Hag said there was only a ‘really small chance’ of him being fit for the game.

United will also be without French forward Anthony Martial, who has a hamstring injury.

That will mean a reshaping of the forward line, with Marcus Rashford likely to begin up top, potentially with Jadon Sancho on the left and Bruno Fernandes shifted to the right, as he was in the last league meeting with City.

That would offer United a bit more midfield clout, with Fred potentially coming in alongside Casemiro and Christian Eriksen to keep tabs on Kevin De Bruyne.

Wout Weghorst and Alejandro Garnacho are attacking options off the bench.

Pep Guardiola has a fully-fit squad at his disposal for today’s final but one call that will raise eyebrows is No 2 goalkeeper Stefan Ortega playing ahead of Ederson.

However, Ortega has been City’s cup keeper all season and Guardiola sees no reason to alter that, as JACK GAUGHAN explains here.

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We all know that City are the favourites to win today’s Cup final but you can never rule out Manchester United in any game.

So what do our Mail Sport pundits – and a few special guests – think will happen today?

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With nearly 90,000 fans of United and City heading to Wembley, the majority from the north-west, it’s hardly the ideal time for a train strike.

It means thousands took to the roads in cars and on buses to get down to London for the final.

But given the tensions between the two fanbases, they have to take separate road routes down from Manchester to London, using assigned service stations.

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Here it is in its full glory as Erik ten Hag, Casemiro, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes defend the Treble crown jewels of the Old Trafford citadel from City’s arrows.

BY IAN LADYMAN

It was in September 2009, only a year after Abu Dhabi’s purchase of Manchester City, that English football’s most listened to and revered voice offered an opinion on the future of the game in his adopted town.

Sitting behind a desk in Manchester United’s academy building, beneath photographs of the players who had helped him construct his empire, Sir Alex Ferguson was asked whether City would ever come to dominate, whether his own club would ever face their neighbours as underdogs.

‘Not in my lifetime,’ Ferguson replied, with face as straight as Deansgate.

Back then, United and City literally sat side by side, their training grounds jostling for space at Carrington, a vast swathe of land sitting just off the M60 motorway to the south-west of Manchester. As Ferguson spoke that day, City’s players could almost have heard the dismissiveness of his tone over the fence.

Now City reside in their expansive footballing palace on the other side of town, a temple built by Abu Dhabi money and testimony to not only a shift in the balance of power that was to come much more quickly than even Ferguson ever suspected but also their current and established standing as English football’s dominant force.

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Artwork of Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag features on the covers of the matchday programme for today’s Cup final, seen here for sale on Wembley Way.

It is actually just one physical edition – priced at £10 – with Pep on the front cover and Ten Hag on the back, or vice versa, depending on whichever side you decide to read first!

No doubting the primary narrative this afternoon – can Manchester City keep their Treble bid on course? Just as importantly, can Manchester United stop them?

The Premier League title – their fifth in six seasons and third in a row – is already in the bag after City reeling in Arsenal in ruthless fashion.

Today’s FA Cup final is part two and next Saturday sees them in Istanbul to take on Inter Milan in the Champions League final.

When United won the Treble in 1999, they walked a high-wire act for months, winning so many big games in the most dramatic way.

City this season have resembled a runaway juggernaut, especially since the turn of the year, sweeping aside all comers.

It feels like it is their time and it will be very sweet indeed if they can move a step closer to their dream by beating United today. United are hell bent on stopping them.

The FA Cup may have slipped down the priority list for a lot of England’s top teams in recent years but there’s no question it means an awful lot today.

Manchester City and Manchester United meet for the first time at this stage of the famous competition with everything on the line.

Pep Guardiola’s imperious City side are on the march to win an historic Treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League with nobody able to keep up with them.

Erik ten Hag’s United are going for a domestic cup double – but also seeking to defend the honour of Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1999 heroes who lifted those same three trophies City now aspire to.

There will be nothing sweeter for United fans to see their current vintage leave City’s dreams in tatters under the Wembley Arch today.

But everyone knows that City are the strong favourites in what promises to be a captivating occasion.

Welcome along to our live coverage here on Mail Sport.

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