bwin Sportsblog - Football - Cup Final day

After Arsenal came so agonisingly close to winning the Carling Cup……a trophy that they so desperately needed to win then will lightening strike twice today with another upset when Stoke City take on big spending Manchester City? Betting for this football match will obviously favour the Sky Blues and I do expect them to edge the game probably 1-0 or 2-1. I think Stoke will come to spoil the game and I do not expect a great final. It is amazing how far Tony Pulis has brought Stoke and now they are a club that no one expects to be relegated. To cap that off with a cup final appearance is great. But I hope that City win it for several reasons. Firstly even though I am not a City fan, I think that the banner at Old Trafford mocking the fact that they haven’t won anything since 1976 has been there long enough taunting the City fans. They made the Champions League this week with their 1-0 win against Tottenham and so that will have given them a huge lift for sure. Much will depend on how Stoke handle the slick City interplay around their box with the likes of Tevez and Silva. Stoke are nowhere near as potent away from their own stadium but who would have expected their 5-0 drubbing of Bolton in the semi-final at Wembley? However there is no way that there will be a repeat of that today because Stoke will know that City can really punish them if they open things up.