Overview
Chelsea will enter the FA Cup final with great pressure in the context that the team is going through a disappointing season. The huge investment continues to not bring about the expected results, while the plan to build a young squad makes many fans impatient.
While the board is still looking for a replacement for Liam Rosenior, U21 team coach Calum McFarlane is assigned the task of temporarily leading the team. Xabi Alonso and Andoni Iraola are currently considered bright candidates for the hot seat at Stamford Bridge.
McFarlane started his term with a 1-0 victory over Leeds United in the FA Cup semi-finals, thanks to Enzo Fernandez's only goal. That result helped Chelsea win the right to play in the FA Cup final for the 17th time in history, a record only behind Manchester United and Arsenal.
On the journey to Wembley, The Blues successively surpassed Charlton Athletic, Hull City, Wrexham and Port Vale before defeating Leeds United. Notably, the West London team is showing extremely impressive scoring performance in this season's FA Cup with 21 goals after 5 matches - the second best achievement in club history in this tournament.
However, Chelsea's performance in the Premier League is completely opposite. The Stamford Bridge team is currently only ranked 9th and 6 points behind the top 6. The 1-1 draw against Liverpool last weekend only helped them end their 6-game losing streak.
The opportunity to win tickets to European cups through the Premier League is almost gone, so the FA Cup has become a life-or-death goal for Chelsea. If they win the championship, they will win tickets to the Europa League next season.
However, recent history in the FA Cup is not on Chelsea's side. The London team has lost 3 consecutive finals from 2020 to 2022 and currently has a balanced record with 8 wins and 8 defeats after 16 appearances in the final.
In the opposite direction, Man City continues to affirm their dominant position in the FA Cup under Pep Guardiola. Even before the final match took place, they set a record to become the first team to participate in 4 consecutive FA Cup finals.
Despite losing to Manchester United and Crystal Palace in the last 2 finals, Man City still has an extremely impressive record in this arena when winning 21 out of the last 23 matches.
Since Guardiola took over the team in 2016, Man City has been the club that has won the most FA Cup matches, scored the most goals and kept the clean sheets the most in the league.
The Citizens' journey to Wembley this season is also convincing. They started with a devastating 10-1 victory over Exeter City, then successively overcame Salford City, Newcastle United and Liverpool before defeating Southampton 2-1 in the semi-finals.
If they beat Chelsea, Man City will complete a domestic double title this season after winning the Carabao Cup in March.
Besides, Guardiola's army is still chasing Arsenal in the Premier League title race. Two consecutive victories against Brentford and Crystal Palace help them narrow the gap to 2 points.
Head-to-head history is also completely leaning towards Man City. The blue team is unbeaten in the last 13 matches against Chelsea in all competitions, winning 10 matches. This series of matches includes a victory in the FA Cup semi-finals in 2024 and a 3-0 destruction right at Stamford Bridge last month.
Expected lineup:
Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Hato, James, Caicedo, Palmer, Fernandez, Cucurella, Pedro.
Man City: Trafford, Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O'Reilly, Gonzalez, Bernardo, Semenyo, Cherki, Doku, Haaland.
The match between Chelsea and Man City takes place at 9:00 p.m. on May 16 (Vietnam time).
