Manchester City v Manchester United: FA Cup final – live

Following yesterday’s Guardian exclusive that Erik ten Hag will be relieved of his duties as Manchester United manager regardless of whether or not his team win this afternoon at Wembley, the 143rd FA Cup final was lent an extra layer of intrigue. United’s refusal to comment on the story suggested it is almost certainly true, even if the news is unlikely to have beenm leaked by any member of the Old Trafford hierarchy.

Given his apparent determination to increase standards of professionalism on and off the field around Old Trafford, Sir Jim Ratcliffe is bound to have been angered and a little embarrassed by a story that doesn’t reflect particularly well on the club the day before a major final; one that is a repeat of last year’s FA Cup showdown won by Manchester City.

Looking to achieve an unprecedented double-Double in English football, Pep Guardiola’s side are white-hot favourites to win today and it is a measure of how far United have fallen behind their rivals in the English football pecking order that they are such easily backable outsiders today.

In light of yesterday’s revelation, there’s every chance Erik ten Hag will field a team of overpaid but underachieving youngsters and primadonnas that he knows will have no chance of winning today, which is not to say he’ll do so deliberately as a final eff-you to his employers, but because he has no other choice. Kick-off at Wembley is at 3pm but we’ll have plenty of team news and build-up.