- Man City face Chelsea in FA Cup final
- Match kicks off at 15:00 BST
- TNT Sports announce early start to coverage
Manchester City will not be kicking things off at Wembley until 3pm on May 16, but fans watching at home will have a reason to tune in hours beforehand.
The FA Cup final used to be the event of the year in English club football, with the pre-match build-up beginning in the morning.
However, the competition has taken a hit in recent years. This is partially because teams see it as less of a priority, but also due to the number of matches which are now behind paywalls.
Still, the broadcaster responsible for this latter point are doing something which they hope will add a little magic to Man City’s final fixture in this season’s edition of the cup.
TNT Sports will begin their coverage at 9am
During PSG’s 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Darren Fletcher made an announcement regarding the FA Cup final next weekend.
The commentator told TNT Sports that the channel’s coverage of the match would begin at 9am BST, six hours before kick off.
Currently, the BBC’s build-up is not set to begin until 2pm. Therefore, even though the main British broadcaster is usually more popular, TNT might have the edge this time around.
An earlier kick off this year
Last season saw the FA Cup final begin at a later time of 16:30, but it is back to its traditional slot this time around.
Man City will have memories they will want to forget from last season, as they suffered a surprising 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.
The defeat saw Pep Guardiola fail to lift a trophy for only the second time since he arrived at the Etihad Stadium.
However, the Sky Blues have already recorded one major success at Wembley this season, and will be confident of another.
Chelsea are in dreadful form
Although Chelsea were able to make their way past Leeds in the FA Cup semi-finals, they have been awful in recent weeks.
In fact, the London club have not picked up a point in the Premier League since the beginning of March, while they were humiliated by PSG in the Champions League.
This bodes well for City, as on paper they ought to be strong favourites to win the FA Cup, thus securing a second piece of silverware this season.
However, Liam Rosenior has been sacked, so perhaps a new manager bounce could be on the cards.
Either way, the Citizens will be looking to play their game and seal a victory which would play at least some role in defining the club’s season.
