FA Cup Final Preview – Manchester City vs Watford, Saturday 18th May 2019

Can Man City do what no (men’s) side has done and complete a domestic treble with an FA Cup victory over Watford this Saturday?

Carried to a 2nd consecutive Premier League title by a season-closing 14-game winning streak, City won’t have any doubts going into Wembley this weekend. Not to say their progress through the Cup – a competition in which they have benefited enormously from the draw – itself has been all swagger, all the time.

Admittedly in the early stages they were in full-on beast mode, beating Rotherham 7-0, Burnley 5-0 and Newport 4-1. However they survived a rather serious scare at Swansea in the quarter-finals, coming back from 2-0 down in the final 20 minutes of the game, with Sergio Aguero scoring the 88th minute winner. They weren’t particularly inspiring in the semis, either, knocking out Brighton thanks to a 4th minute opener from Gabriel Jesus.

Following a middling season that saw them in 11th place, equidistant in points (16) from both the relegation zone and the last spot in Europe, the Hornets will be looking to spoil City’s party. Like the league champions, Watford could have had a much harder route to the final.

Away wins at Woking, Newcastle and QPR took them in quarter-finals, where they pushed past Crystal Palace. The semis saw the club incur their one major test: 2-0 down with 10 minutes to go against Wolves, the game was dragged into extra time thanks to a 79th minute goal from Gerard Deulofeu and an injury time penalty courtesy of Troy Deeney. Just before the extra time break Deulofeu then scored his 2nd, sending Watford to their first FA Cup final since 1984.

Though he may not have nabbed the Golden Boot, 2018/19 saw Aguero match both Alan Shearer’s record of 6 Premier League seasons with a 20 goals-plus tally, and Thierry Henry’s 5 successive seasons with the same total. In all competitions he has 32 goals, and sits at a stellar Super Mega PGM spread of 73-85. Troy Deeney and Andre Gray, in contrast, are at 10-14 apiece.

Twice already have City beaten Watford this season, and Saturday will likely see them complete the hat-trick. Spreadex are offering a Man City/Watford Goal Supremacy spread of 1.85-2.05, alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.2-3.4.