Manchester City v Manchester United Betting Tips [3 June 2023]

Manchester City continue their treble charge as they take on local rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final. City are targeting the second piece of what would be the first league, FA Cup and Champions League treble in England since their opponents did it in the 1998/99 season. The Premier League champions advanced to this stage of the competition thanks to a 3-0 win over Sheffield United in the semi-final. Manchester United would need penalties to get past in-form Brighton in the semi-final after a 0-0 scoreline following the 120 minutes played.

The oddsmakers understandably have Manchester City as heavy favorites to lift the FA Cup for the first time since the 2018/19 campaign. Manager Pep Guardiola was afforded the opportunity to rotate his squad ahead of both this FA Cup final and the Champions League final that will take place next weekend. The changes in the team is a large part as to why the Sky Blue’s 25 match unbeaten run came to an end in a 1-0 away loss to Brentford on Sunday. Amazingly, the defeat was only Manchester City’s sixth loss in this season spanning across all competitions. Coincidentally it was also only the sixth time that the Citizens had failed to score in their 60 matches played in 2022/23. 

The challenge for Manchester United will be trying to replicate their stellar form at Old Trafford in the neutral venue of Wembley. United have won 15 of their 19 home league fixtures and held the best local defensive record with only 10 goals conceded. Their most recent result was a 2-1 win over Fulham. The 20-time league champions should feel positive about their chances given that they closed out the Premier League season on a run of four straight wins. However, only one of those came away from home. Looking back on Manchester United’s recent away form paints a worrying picture. Erik ten Hag’s men suffered defeat in four of their last seven away trips, one of which was the 7-0 capitulation against Liverpool. They’ll have to be at their absolute best here if they are to spoil Manchester City’s dreams of a historic treble.

With this being a cup final, it’s fair to assume that both managers might take a more pragmatic approach to start this match. City away matches tend to have played out as much lower-scoring affairs this campaign compared to their scorching form at the Etihad. We can’t look past Manchester City in this one given that their top-gear is unmatched by any other team in world football at the moment. Still, we aren’t expecting a blow-out so combining a City win with the under looks like a good way to grab some extra value. Our Manchester City vs Manchester United prediction is for Man City to win and under 4.5 goals to be scored.