Thomas Tuchel & co. trip to the northwest London to take on Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening.
The Blues, who booking their spot in this season’s Uefa Champions League semi-final, will look to continue their knockout form and get through to the final of the prestigious FA Cup when they face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at the Wembley Stadium.
Chelsea are going through a bit of a mixed patch of form in recent weeks, winning and losing two each of their last four games, with the latest one ending in a 1-0 defeat to FC Porto this week in the Uefa Champions League.
The Blues, who defeated by local rivals Arsenal in FA Cup finals last season, knockout Morecambe, Luton Town and Barnsley in the third, fourth and fifth rounds, respectively, before they eased past Sheffield United 2-0 in the quarter-finals to make it to the penultimate stages.
And ahead of crucial clash against Manchester City, who continue to fight on all four fronts in the pursuit of an unprecedented quadruple, Thomas Tuchel & co. with without Mateo Kovacic and Andreas Christensen are both ruled out due to hamstring problems picked up last week.
On 🎯 with the lads! 💪
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 16, 2021
𝙋𝙄𝙉𝙂! ⚽️💥😎 We got that Mase! pic.twitter.com/yDVE6DIYi0
Moving on to predicted starting lineup, minimal changes are expected to be made to the side that lost narrowly to FC Porto earlier this week. The first alteration should come in goal, where Kepa Arrizabalaga steps into the lineup in place of first-choice custodian Edouard Mendy, who secured Chelsea back-line with impressive save since arrived at Stamford Bridge.
The back-three of Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azipilicueta is expected to remains intact, although the trio could face problem against the fleet-footed Manchester City attackers.
Ben Chilwell and Reece James ought to be the two wing-backs again as they offer a little more defensively than Marcos Alonso and Callum Hudson-Odoi. The onus will be on them to provide the width while attacking as well.
Last time out in the #FACup...
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 16, 2021
Chilly inspired x Wizard finish! 💪 pic.twitter.com/2T119cLrq4
Judging on Tuchel comment, starlet Billy Gilmour, who delivered standout performances in fifth round and quarter-final clash against Sheffield United, is expected to partner N’Golo Kante in middle of park when Chelsea encounter with Manchester City at Wembley Stadium this evening.
Mason Mount is undroppable and will once again start on the
right of the front three while Christian Pulisic, who produced remarkable
performance in Blues’ last two matches, should be rewarded with another start
while Kai Havertz should continue operating as the No.9 once again. That would
mean the likes of Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner miss out once again.
Last time we faced Manchester City in the #FACup ⏪ 2016...
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 16, 2021
𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/imfj67Ov9p
Probable Lineup (3-4-2-1):
Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Silva, Rudiger; James, Kante, Gilmour, Chilwell;
Mount, Pulisic; Havertz
Match Officials
Referee Mike Dean,
who was match official in City’s 1-0 win against Southampton back in December,
will be joined by Assistant Referees Ian Hussin and Dan Robathan, along with
Andre Marriner as the Fourth Official.
Peter Bankes (VAR)
and Stephen Child (AVAR) have been handed the VAR duties at Wembley.
Kick-off at 5:30PM
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