FA Cup Final Player of the Match Odds: Phil Foden 7/2 favourite ahead of Wembley showpiece

Phil Foden has been priced up as the 7/2 favourite for the FA Cup final Player of the Match ahead of Saturday’s final between Manchester City and Manchester United.

bet365’s Steve Freeth said: “Barring a backs-to-the wall performance from Antonio Rudiger in 2018, it's been an award that has been dominated by an attacking player that has either scored or assisted in recent years, and in our favourite Phil Foden you have one of the best in the world at both right now.”

Previous FA Cup final Player of the Match winners

Ilkay Gundogan was at the double in last year’s final, with the skipper unsurprisingly being named Player of the Match as City ran out 2-1 winners but, despite their recent dominance, the award isn’t always handed out to goalscorers.

While four of the last five winners of the Player of the Match have found the scoresheet, 10 of the last 21 winners going back to 2003 failed to find the net, and nine of those didn’t even register an assist.

Only one winner, however, was on the losing side, and even that was when Arsenal and Manchester United couldn’t be separated after a dull 120 minutes when Wayne Rooney won the first of two Player of the Match awards as United found themselves on the wrong end of a penalty shootout.

With that in mind, it’s probably best considering the Manchester City representatives, with Pep Guardiola’s men as short as 1/6 (shorter than the 1/4 they were for last year’s final) to lift the trophy, compared to United’s 4/1.

Understandably, Erling Haaland is amongst the favourites, ever so slightly behind Foden in the betting at 4/1. Although the Norwegian hasn’t quite been at his best this season, he’s still notched 27 Premier League goals having started only 29 games, and is as short as 8/11 to find the net on Saturday.

For punters eyeing up a slightly bigger price, creator-in-chief Kevin De Bruyne – who won the award in 2019 despite only being subbed on 60 minutes into the game – is available at 8/1, while arguably City's most important player, Rodri, is 12/1.

Should Manchester United emerge victorious on Saturday, it will likely be as the result of a backs-to-the-wall, counter-attacking performance, and though Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund and Bruno Fernandes are United’s primary attacking outlets, it’s nearer to their own goal where you’ll find the likely difference-makers.

Andre Onana is 14/1 and can expect to be even busier than usual at Wembley. The United stopper has faced the third most shots in the league this season (behind only Luton’s Thomas Kaminski and Sheffield United’s Wes Foderingham) and has made a league-high 146 saves.

United's shortest priced player, however, is skipper and talisman Fernandes, and if United are to win on Saturday, they'll need a big performance from their captain.

Liam Williams

• Manchester United F.C.
• Manchester City F.C.
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