History favours Manchester City in FA Cup final

Wigan Athletic will have to defy recent history as well as shrugging off the spectre of relegation if they are to cause one of the biggest FA Cup final upsets for years and beat Manchester City on Saturday.

City, FA Cup winners in 2011 and Premier League champions last season, start as the overwhelming favourites for the match at Wembley (1615 GMT kickoff) but Wigan have shown at times this season, especially in their 3-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Everton, they can spring a surprise.

However, not only are Manchester City better in every position than Wigan, they have won the last seven matches between the sides without conceding a goal, outscoring Roberto Martinez's men 13-0 since March 2010.

The last time Wigan beat City was nearly five years ago when goals from Antonio Valencia and an Amr Zaki penalty gave them a 2-1 league win in September 2008.
 
While Wigan, third from bottom in the league, go into their first FA Cup final with two matches left to save themselves from relegation to the Championship, Manchester City head to Wembley Stadium with nothing to fear. 
 
Having relinquished their title to Manchester United two weeks ago, they ensured they will qualify for the Champions League next season by beating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 on Tuesday.

It seems all that can stop them from adding more silverware to their recently acquired collection is a return to the listlessness that damaged their title defence or a sudden collective loss of form.

After the two sides won their semi-finals last month, City struggled to beat Wigan in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium on April 17 until an excellent late winner from Carlos Tevez.

However, since then Wigan have been hit by injuries. Those, plus some poor defending in a 3-2 defeat to Swansea City on Tuesday, do not augur well for their chances in the final.

Wigan will be without the authoritative Maynor Figueroa in midfield while centre back Ivan Ramis is still out with a knee injury. Antolin Alcaraz is a doubt after missing the midweek match and Ronnie Stam suffered a suspected broken leg against Swansea.

Martinez though, aiming to become the first Spanish coach to win the FA Cup since Rafa Benitez in 2006 with Liverpool, believes his team can save their season.

Talking about Wigan's chances of Premier League survival, he said: "We will never give up and we will never throw the towel in. We have a lot of injuries at the back and it showed."
 
CREATING CHANCES

Wigan can produce neat, incisive football and in Shaun Maloney have a fine player capable of creating chances and openings from midfield.

Ivorian international Arouna Kone has shown an eye for goal in his first season at the club with 13 strikes.

Whatever the outcome on Saturday, Wigan are guaranteed a Europa League spot next season. 

City boss Roberto Mancini made eight changes to the side that drew with Swansea last weekend for the game against West Brom. Even so, City were too strong and won with a first-half goal from Edin Dzeko, who may have played his way into the starting line-up for Saturday.   

Mancini is attempting to become the first Italian manager to win the FA Cup twice after City's success two years ago, and will be hoping his club, unlike rivals Manchester United, will not be looking for a new boss at the end of the season.

There has been widespread talk for months that Mancini is on his way out of City, but a second FA Cup win and the chance to regain the league title next season from what will be a United team in transition following Alex Ferguson's retirement, will give him a strong hand in any negotiations with the club's owners.

City's 2011 Cup triumph ended a barren 35 years for the club and Mancini may be entitled to believe a third trophy and guaranteed Champions League soccer next season, will buy him more time.

FACTBOX:
 
Manchester City will be playing in the FA Cup for the 10th time, after winning five and losing four of their previous finals. Wigan Athletic will be making their first appearance.
 
City's win over Stoke City in 2011 was their first major trophy for 35 years, since winning the League Cup in 1976. It was their first FA Cup win since 1969. They followed up their 2011 victory by winning the Premier League title for the first time since 1968 last season.
 
Wigan Athletic, 18th in the Premier League are hoping to avoid the fate suffered by Manchester City in 1926 when they appeared in the final and were relegated in the same season.

Five clubs: Manchester City (1926), Leicester City (1969), Brighton (1983), Middlesbrough (1997) and Portsmouth (2010) all appeared in the final and were also relegated. They all lost in the final.
 
City manager Roberto Mancini is attempting to become the first Italian manager to win the FA Cup twice and keep Italy's successful run going in finals, the last three of which have all been won by clubs with Italian managers.

Carlo Ancelotti won with Chelsea in 2010, Mancini with City in 2011, Roberto Di Matteo with Chelsea last season.
 
Wigan's Roberto Martinez is attempting to become the first Spanish manager to win the FA Cup since Liverpool's Rafa Benitez in 2006.
 
This is the first final in which both managers have had the same first name since Matt Busby's Manchester United beat Leicester City managed by Matt Gillies in 1963.
 
Wigan's chairman Dave Whelan is hoping his side can win the final and make up for his loss in 1960. He was in the Blackburn Rovers team beaten 3-0 in the final by Wolverhampton Wanderers but suffered a broken leg which effectively ended his career.
 
Another player who suffered an injury is a Wigan hero. Harry Lyon was carried off on a stretcher with sprained ankle ligaments during an FA Cup first-round replay against Doncaster Rovers in November 1965. The Wigan doctor gave him painkillers and whisky and he returned to the field - scoring a hat-trick in a 3-1 win. A road is named after him on the site of Wigan's old Springfield Park ground.
 
Wigan Athletic were formed in 1932 after the demise of Wigan Borough who played in the Football League between 1921 and 1932. Borough succeeded an earlier club called Wigan County who played only one match in the FA Cup proper - losing 1-0 to Manchester City in the first round in 1898.
 
Yaya Toure, who scored City's goal in their 1-0 win over Stoke two years ago, will become the eighth player since World War Two to score in at least two finals if he scores again on Saturday. The record is held by Chelsea's Didier Drogba who scored in all four FA Cup finals he played in (2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012).
 
Manchester City's Bobby Johnstone became the first player to score in successive Wembley finals, in 1955 when City lost to Newcastle and in 1956 when they beat Birmingham City.
 
Whatever the outcome on Saturday, Wigan will be playing in Europe for the first time next season. As Manchester City have qualified for the Champions League, Wigan have a guaranteed place in the Europa League as either winners or runners-up.
 
When Manchester City lost 3-0 to Everton in the 1933 Cup final it was the first time the players had worn numbers. Everton wore numbers 1-11 and City were numbered from 12-22.
 
Wigan were elected to the Football League in 1978, a year after Wimbledon who joined the League in 1977 and went on to win the FA Cup in 1988.

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