Dreams
of a continental and domestic double will end for Chelsea or Manchester City
this weekend, as the two sides lock horns in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final at
Wembley Stadium.
Both
clubs booked their spots in the semi-finals of the Champions League in midweek,
as Thomas Tuchel's men overcame Porto 2-1 on aggregate while Pep Guardiola's
quarter-final hoodoo ended with a dominant 4-2 success over two legs against
Borussia Dortmund.
Chelsea
are aiming to go one better in the FA Cup after losing to Arsenal in last
season's final, while Man City were knocked out at this stage by the Gunners in
the 2019-20 tournament.
Match
preview
Tuchel
has already endeared himself to the Chelsea faithful with his side's
free-flowing attacking sequences and dogged defensive unit since replacing
Frank Lampard at the helm, and another European crown would be the perfect way
for the former Paris Saint-Germain manager to prove his worth to the club's
notoriously trigger-happy hierarchy, although he may have to get one over his
old club in the final should Chelsea get there.
The
Blues are far from guaranteed a spot in Europe's elite competition via their
league position, though, as they sit one point adrift of fourth-placed West Ham
United following their humbling at the hands of West Bromwich Albion, although
they did at least manage to put Crystal Palace to the sword last time out
domestically.
A
3-1 win over Luton Town in the fourth round of the FA Cup signalled the end of
Lampard's tenure in the Stamford Bridge hotseat, and Tuchel has,
unsurprisingly, navigated tests against Barnsley and Sheffield United without
seeing his defence breached in the previous two rounds.
Should
the Blues manage to get one over perennial cup winners Man City, it will mark
the fourth time in five seasons that they have reached the showpiece event in
England's premier cup competition - with a fifth-round defeat to Manchester
United in 2018-19 being the only exception - and a 15th final would put them
third on the all-time list behind Arsenal (21) and Man United (20).
Tuchel's
first two defeats in the Stamford Bridge hotseat hardly requires the panic
button to be pressed, and the fatigued Blues' goal-shy showing in midweek did
not matter whatsoever as they booked their place in the Champions League semis,
but the normally-resilient Chelsea defence now boasts just one clean sheet in
four games.
Even
though an FA Cup triumph would not be enough to secure a spot in next season's
Champions League, a first piece of silverware would go a long way to securing
Tuchel's future in the Blues' dugout, as whoever comes up trumps in this tie
will certainly be favourites to overcome Leicester City or Southampton on May
15.
With an 11-point lead at the top and six games left to play
in the Premier League, City are cruising to another top-flight crown, and
Guardiola's dominance of the EFL Cup scene could continue against Tottenham
Hotspur in next weekend's final, but the charismatic Catalan coach has not
always been able to stamp his authority on the FA Cup.
Indeed, the Manchester giants have only ever reached the
final once in the last eight seasons - thrashing Watford 6-0 in the 2018-19
showpiece event - and Guardiola was outdone by his former student Mikel Arteta
at this stage last season, as City lost 2-0 to Arsenal in the final four.
However, with an astonishing 28 wins to boast from their
last 30 across all competitions - notwithstanding their shock defeat to Leeds
United last time out in the Premier League - City's players will undoubtedly
march to Wembley with thoughts of an unprecedented quadruple racing through
their minds, although they must extinguish such fantasies for at least 90
minutes on Saturday.
Guardiola's men have overcome Birmingham City, Cheltenham
Town, Swansea City and Everton to book their spot in the semi-finals - scoring
at least twice in all four of those games - and if their stints in Germany are
anything to go by, Guardiola certainly enjoys coming up against teams coached
by Tuchel.
The former Bayern Munich manager did not taste defeat in any
of his five meetings with Tuchel between 2013 and 2016 - winning three and
drawing two against his counterpart - but the German's Chelsea outfit command
plenty of respect.
One
of these English powerhouses will see their dreams of FA Cup glory dashed this
weekend, but if Chelsea and City continue to produce the goods in Europe, an
all-English Champions League final between the two teams in blue is not beyond
the realm of possibility.
Chelsea FA Cup form:
WWWW
Chelsea form (all competitions):
WWLWWL
Manchester City FA Cup form:
WWWW
Manchester City form (all
competitions):
WWWWLW
Team News
Tuchel dedicated his side's quarter-final win over Porto to
Mateo Kovacic, who suffered a hamstring problem during a training session and
has already been ruled out of the semi-final alongside Andreas Christensen, who
has failed to recover from a muscular issue.
However, the tireless work of N'Golo Kante and Jorginho was
a shining light for the Blues in Seville despite their second-leg defeat, and
Tuchel will need his midfield lynchpins on top form at Wembley this weekend.
Despite his affinity for rotation, Tuchel has seemingly
placed his faith in Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz as his three
first-choice attackers, although Timo Werner may be considered for a start over
Pulisic - who played the full 90 in midweek - given his previous fitness
concerns.
Tammy Abraham's four strikes sees him sit atop the
goalscoring charts in this season's FA Cup, but the Englishman has fallen out
of favour alongside Olivier Giroud, and both strikers may only be considered
for spots on the bench.
Thiago
Silva and his 36-year-old legs lasted the entire game against Porto on Tuesday,
but with caution being urged over the former Paris Saint-Germain stalwart due
to recent injuries and suspensions, Kurt Zouma is a candidate to start in
defence, while Kepa could feature in goal.
City's all-time top goalscorer and soon-to-be free agent
Sergio Aguero enjoys playing Chelsea more than any other team, but the
Argentine will not get the chance to build on the 15 goals he boasts against
the Blues due to his latest muscular problem.
However, Aguero is the sole occupant of City's treatment
room after Aymeric Laporte was fit enough for a spot on the bench against
Dortmund, and the Frenchman could once again switch places with John Stones in
Guardiola's back four.
Joao Cancelo will almost certainly return to the rearguard
after being rested in midweek, with Oleksandr Zinchenko expected to make way on
the left-hand side. Alternatively, Benjamin Mendy could be recalled and Cancelo
could feature on the right if Kyle Walker is dropped, but the Englishman will
surely start a game of this magnitude.
Kevin De Bruyne boasts nine goal contributions from his
side's last eight FA Cup matches and is set to man the engine room with Rodri
and Ilkay Gundogan once more, but the final third is where the real dilemmas
lie for Guardiola.
Raheem
Sterling has been benched more often than not in recent weeks, and Foden does
not deserve to be demoted, but Gabriel Jesus will hope to be trusted from the
off having already netted twice in this season's tournament.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Kepa; Azpilicueta, Silva, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kante,
Alonso; Mount, Werner; Havertz
Manchester City possible starting
lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; Rodri, Gundogan, De
Bruyne; Mahrez, Jesus, Foden
Head To Head
Saturday's semi-final represents the 167th meeting between
Chelsea and Man City in all competitions, with the capital outfit boasting 68
wins compared to City's 59.
However, Guardiola's side have won seven of their last nine
against Chelsea in all competitions, including a dominant 3-1 win at Stamford
Bridge in the Premier League back in January.
The two sides last met in the FA Cup during the 2015-16
season, where Chelsea eased to a 5-1 win in the fifth round, but they have
tried and failed three times to beat Man City at the new Wembley Stadium since
2013 - most recently losing on penalties in the 2019 EFL Cup final.
Match Info:
Date - Saturday 17th April 2021
Time - 18:30 GMT, 5:30pm
NG, 4:30pm GH, 7:30pm KE...
Venue - Wembley
Referee - Mike Dean
No comments