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Topics: Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, Manchester United, Ederson, Stefan Ortega, FA Cup, Wembley Stadium
Ryan Smart
Topics: Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, Manchester United, Ederson, Stefan Ortega, FA Cup, Wembley Stadium
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed that goalkeeper Stefan Ortega will be selected ahead of Ederson to play in the FA Cup final against Manchester United on Saturday.
Ederson has been City's number one goalkeeper in the Premier League and Champions League this season.
But Ortega has started every round of the club's FA Cup campaign, and also played three Premier League games before the end of the campaign to increase his match fitness.
The German shot-stopper joined City last summer after spending five seasons at Arminia Bielefeld, where he made over 150 appearances.
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And the experienced goalkeeper will get the nod at Wembley, Guardiola has confirmed.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the historic clash, which will see the two Manchester clubs contest a final for the first time, Guardiola stated that he would not change his goalkeeper policy by bringing Ederson into the game.
Throughout his time at City, the Spaniard has picked his second choice goalkeeper throughout each FA Cup campaign - and said that will not change on Saturday.
"He's going to play," Guardiola began. "I've always been like that, even in Barcelona. The keeper who has played FA Cup plays [the final]."
Ortega has played 13 games for City in all competitions this season, featuring on three occasions in the Carabao Cup and twice in the Champions League alongside his FA Cup and Premier League matches.
He has kept nine clean sheets in his 13 games, and earned praise from legendary City goalkeeper Joe Corrigan, who made over 600 appearances for the club between 1967 and 1983, winning the 1970 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two League Cups and receiving nine caps for England.
He told City's official website in December: "I think Stefan has really done well - especially considering the fact he hasn't played a large number of competitive games so far this season.
"Yes, he is training against some of the best players in the world day in, day out in training but, for me, I think there is nothing better than playing in competitive games rather than training matches. So I think he has done really well considering his limited time on the pitch."