Kevin De Bruyne: Guardiola Starts Star Midfielder for FA Cup Final Despite Injury Concerns

• Pep Guardiola made the bold choice of starting Kevin de Bruyne for the FA Cup final
• De Bruyne was a huge doubt for the clash against Manchester United, as was Jack Grealish and Ruben Dias
• However, Guardiola included the trio in his fairly strong starting XI for the final

Kevin de Bruyne has made the starting XI for Manchester City ahead of the FA Cup final against Manchester United.

A number of Manchester City stars have returned to the side for the final, amid initial injury concerns.

The likes of Jack Grealish, Ruben Dias, and even top scorer Erling Haaland were all minor doubts for the clash, or at least making the starting lineup.

However, Guardiola appears to be unwilling to take any chances against his local rivals as he fielded a very strong side.

As seen in the Manchester City website, Stefan Ortega starts in goal, while the trio of Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji start in front of him.

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John Stones also starts in his hybrid position of defensive midfield, with Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and Kevin de Bruyne given the task to provide creativity going forward.

Haaland is the lone striker as he seeks to score his 53rd goal of the season.

Man United lineup

For Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag decided to go without Harry Maguire in the starting XI.

Brazilian Antony is also missing, and so is Anthony Martial.

It is Marcus Rashford who has been tasked with coming up with the goals for United in the FA Cup final after his 30-goal haul across all competitions this season.

Here is how Manchester United line up against the Citizens:

De Gea, Wan Bissaka, Varane, Shaw, Lindelof, Casemiro, Eriksen, Fred, Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, Jadon Sancho.

Gundogan scores fastest goal in FA Cup history

Sports Brief also reported on how Gundogan bagged the fastest goal in FA Cup history.

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Treble-chasing City came into the match at Wembley as firm favourites but could not have dreamed of such a start in the London sunshine.

12 seconds into the final and Gundogan was on target, slamming the ball past Manchester United's David de Gea to stun everyone at Wembley.

The goal beat the previous record of 25 seconds set by Everton's Louis Saha in the 2009 final against Chelsea.