Michael Owen has dropped a big claim ahead of the upcoming FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United.
With the Premier League season not over yet, the Blues are in the race to lift another title, whereas their rivals are fighting to secure European football for next season.
Once the league campaign ends, the two Manchester sides will have the chance to win the FA Cup in a repeat of last year’s final at Wembley Stadium.
Even though both teams have some crucial league games left to play before they can focus on the cup final, one pundit has dropped a big claim on how he thinks this latest meeting between City and United will go down based on what he’s seen from United recently.
Owen drops big claim on Man City vs Man United FA Cup final
Speaking in a recent video shared on the Optus Sport TikTok channel after watching United lose 4-0 to Crystal Palace on Monday night, Owen had this to say about the upcoming FA Cup final when discussing Erik ten Hag’s future with the Red Devils.
He said: “I’ve said it for a long time, I’ve sat here for quite a while and been saying that Ten Hag is just not the right man for this job.
“I’ve been saying it for ages and ages. He cannot, simply cannot manage the team next season.
“But I almost wonder now, they’ve got a cup final and they’ve got a few important games that could mean European football next year or not. At some point, you’ve got to make a decision.
“They’re going to get absolutely hammered by Manchester City. They’re going to get annihilated.
“In fact, Arsenal will smash them to bits at Old Trafford. Newcastle will probably beat them and I wouldn’t even fancy them going to Brighton either.
“They might not get anything out of the rest of the season if they’re playing like that.
“I just wonder, with so much at stake, even though it’s only for four games, I wonder whether the board might just have to try to do something here and now and be quite radical about it.
“I’m not sure, but he cannot, simply cannot manage this team next season, he’s not good enough, I’ve thought it for ages. He’s just not good enough to manage Manchester United.”
Will Man City beat Man United in the FA Cup final again?
Looking over the two teams’ previous Premier League games, City beat Wolves 5-1 and racked up 20 attempts at goal in total across the 90 minutes.
In last night’s defeat against Palace, United were only able to register seven shots at goal compared to the home side’s 18.
Across the entire league campaign, City have scored 35 more goals than Ten Hag’s outfit (87 vs 52) and conceded 22 fewer (33 vs 55).
With that in mind, it’s not too hard to see why Owen thinks Pep Guardiola’s side could demolish the Red Devils later this month based on United’s recent form.