Can Zlatan fire United to their first trophy under Jose Mourinho on Sunday?
Man Utd v Southampton - Sunday 16:30, Sky sports 1
Southampton’s route to the final has seen them get past four fellow Premier League sides as they’ve won all five matches without conceding against Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Arsenal and then Liverpool, home and away. They’ve only scored seven times across those five matches as they all had fewer than three goals and we expect them to adopt a cautious approach.
Man Utd certainly come into the final in the better form having won their last five matches and their only defeat in their last 25 was the essentially meaningless second leg in the semi-final of this competition. Since that loss they’ve conceded only one goal in seven matches and they’ve let in just 13 in their last 25.
Five of the seven meetings between these teams since 2013/14 have had fewer than three goals and while we expect United to be lifting the trophy it might not be straightforward and we’ll avoid the match outcome, although the draw in 90 minutes looks a touch of value. A low-scoring affair is on the cards with Under 2.5 Goals a decent short-priced bet at 1.67. It may well go to extra-time but since 1998 six of the seven finals to go to extra-time have been won by the side we had placed higher in the Football Form Labs rankings.
We should also mention Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as if there’s to be a decisive player in this match he looks the most likely candidate. He scored at Wembley in the Charity Shield win back in August and netted four times in his four domestic cup finals over the last two years with PSG. Having netted both goals in a 2-0 win over Southampton in the league at the start of the season we think he looks great value at 2.30 to add to that collection, but seven of his 15 league goals have been the last of the match so back him to be celebrating the winner.
