Overview
Manchester City will temporarily put aside the Premier League title race to focus on the goal of winning a domestic double title when facing Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
After defeating Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final, Pep Guardiola's team is facing the opportunity to become the sixth team in history to win both major domestic cup titles of English football in the same season. Previously, only Arsenal (1992-1993), Liverpool (2000-2001 and 2021-2022), Chelsea (2006-2007) and Man City themselves (2018-2019) did this.
This will also be Man City's fourth consecutive FA Cup final - an unprecedented milestone in the history of the tournament. However, the Etihad Stadium team has lost in the last 2 finals, against Manchester United and Crystal Palace, after defeating Man United in the 2023 match.
Coincidentally, Chelsea also experienced a series of forgettable defeats in the FA Cup, when they became the first team to lose 3 consecutive finals in the period from 2020 to 2022.
However, Chelsea is no stranger to the Wembley stage. This will be the 17th time they have participated in the FA Cup final - a record only behind Man United (22) and Arsenal (21). The London team currently has a record of 8 wins and 8 losses in previous finals.
However, The Blues' recent form at Wembley is not very positive. They have not scored any goals in the last 4 finals at this stadium since Christian Pulisic's goal against Arsenal in the FA Cup final in 2020 - a match that Chelsea still lost 1-2.
Both teams have shown dominance in the FA Cup for nearly a decade. Since the 2016-2017 season, Man City has been the team that has won the most matches in the league with 45 wins, while Chelsea is second with 37 wins.
The two teams also lead in the number of goals scored in the FA Cup in this period, with Man City having 159 goals and Chelsea having 111 goals. In terms of defense, The Citizens kept a clean sheet in 28 matches, and Chelsea had 26 times.
However, interim coach Callum McFarlane has reason to worry when Chelsea has not really made an impression against strong opponents this season.
Four of Chelsea's five FA Cup wins this season came against teams outside the Premier League, while the remaining victory was against Leeds United in the semi-finals. The last time Chelsea defeated two Premier League teams in the same FA Cup campaign was in the 2020-2021 season, when they defeated Sheffield United and Man City to reach the final.
In the opposite direction, Man City entered the match with great confidence. Guardiola's team won 21 out of the last 23 FA Cup matches and only lost in the last 2 finals in that streak.
Head-to-head record
Since Thomas Tuchel's defeat to Chelsea in the 2020-2021 Champions League final, Man City has not lost to The Blues in their last 13 encounters in all competitions, with a record of 10 wins and 3 draws.
This is Man City's longest unbeaten streak against Chelsea in the history of head-to-head matches between the two teams. Conversely, for The Blues, it is also their longest streak of unbeaten matches against an opponent since the period of experiencing 17 consecutive matches unable to beat Arsenal from January 1999 to March 2004.
Score prediction: Chelsea 1-2 Man City
The match between Chelsea and Man City takes place at 9:00 p.m. on May 16 (Vietnam time).
