History favours Man City in FA Cup final

TodayWigan Athletic vs Man City 17:15 LONDON. Wigan Athletic will have to defy recent history as well as shrugging off the spectre of relegation if they are to cause one of the biggest FA Cup final upsets for years and beat Manchester City on Saturday.City, FA Cup winners in 2011 and Premier League champions last season, start as the overwhelming favourites for the match at Wembley but Wigan have shown at times this season, especially in their 3-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Everton, they can spring a surprise.However, not only are Manchester City better in every position than Wigan, they have won the last seven matches between the sides without conceding a goal, outscoring Roberto Martinez’s men 13-0 since March 2010.The last time Wigan beat City was nearly five years ago when goals from Antonio Valencia and an Amr Zaki penalty gave them a 2-1 league win in September 2008.A few weeks later the billionaire Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi bought City and nothing much has been the same since he began ploughing his wealth into the former serial under-achievers.While Wigan, third from bottom in the league, go into their first FA Cup final with two matches left to save themselves from relegation to the Championship, Manchester City head to Wembley Stadium with nothing to fear.ADDING SILVERWAREHaving relinquished their title to Manchester United two weeks ago, they ensured they will qualify for the Champions League next season by beating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 on Tuesday.It seems all that can stop them from adding more silverware to their recently acquired collection is a return to the listlessness that damaged their title defence or a sudden collective loss of form.After the two sides won their semi-finals last month, City struggled to beat Wigan in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium on April 17 until an excellent late winner from Carlos Tevez.However, since then Wigan have been hit by injuries. Those, plus some poor defending in a 3-2 defeat to Swansea City on Tuesday, do not augur well for their chances in the final.Wigan will be without the authoritative Maynor Figueroa in midfield while centre back Ivan Ramis is still out with a knee injury.Martinez though, aiming to become the first Spanish coach to win the FA Cup since Rafa Benitez in 2006 with Liverpool, believes his team can save their season.Talking about Wigan’s chances of Premier League survival, he said: “We will never give up and we will never throw the towel in. We have a lot of injuries at the back and it showed.”