High-flying duel that we will experience at the legendary Wembley Stadium this Saturday at 6:15 p.m. CET, a stadium that will host the ssecond semi-final of the FA Cup between Manchester City and Chelsea that ensures a spectacle from start to finish. The KO tournament par excellence in England is already awaiting room for two finalists.
Going for the third in the ‘Pep Era’
It is the sixth consecutive appearance of the ‘Cityzens’ in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, a tournament that Pep Guardiola has managed to lift twice since arriving at the Etihad Stadium, the last time in a historic 2022-23 campaign in which they won the league, cup and Champions League treble, a milestone that only their neighbors ‘red devils’ had achieved in all of history.
Hopes for this season were going the same way until Real Madrid came across Europe, team that ended the ‘sky blues’ dreams of repeating the treble with elimination in the penalty shootout in the quarterfinals. A bitter outcome for Pep’s boys.
City was eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League / AGENCIES
In any case, City arrives at the FA Cup match against Chelsea as favorites, as they have not lost in any of their last eight matches in all competitions. Furthermore, those from Manchester come to this match after winning 28 of their last 31 cup games, eliminating Huddersfield Town, Luton, Spurs and Newcastle this season on their way to the ‘Top-4’.
Guardiola’s pupils still dream of the double. After the setback between Liverpool and Arsenal on the last daythey lead the Premier League alone and have a comfortable schedule to defend their throne. In the FA Cup they start as great candidates to win the trophy, with Manchester United and Coventry on the other side of the table.
Chelsea, a pain in the ass this season
No matter how much distance separates both teams in the standings, their previous clashes predict a very close match. Chelsea occupies 9th place in the league and playing European football next season is almost a utopia, but Pochettino’s men have made City suffer in their two league clashes. They drew 4-4 in the first leg in a historic scoring festival at Stamford Bridge; In the second leg the ‘blues’ resisted and managed to take a point with the final 1-1.
Cole Palmer celebrates one of his four goals against Everton / EFE
The London team lands at Wembley with a Cole Palmer in MVP mode, and the young English pearl scored a hat trick in 29 minutes (he finished with poker) in Chelsea’s victory at home against Everton 6-0, a form that makes fans dream of reaching the final of the FA Cup, a competition they last won in 2018 under Antonio Conte.
