Manchester City have been dreaming of winning the treble for the second consecutive year after being eliminated by Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. For many of the Citizens, it was a big shock, but they need to overcome it quickly.
Just over two days after that match, Man City had another knockout match, against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals.
On the other hand, with that disappointment, Chelsea were both in a state of excitement - beating Everton 6-0, and had a longer break and preparation period.
This season, Chelsea have not been able to enter the Premier League championship race, even if they are not present in any European Cup front. But they are candidates in the two domestic cup competitions.
That partly shows the instability of The Blues in the process of rebuilding under Mauricio Pochettino. But Chelsea are having a tough time at this stage.
Since losing to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final at the end of February, Chelsea have gone 8 unbeaten matches (5 wins, 3 draws). It is worth mentioning that they followed a winning streak and then drew in that series of 8 matches in a very good way to attract attention.
In addition to the 6-0 score against Everton, Chelsea won 4-3 against Manchester United, 3-2 against Newcastle but drew all 3 matches with the same score of 2-2 against Brentford, Burnley and Sheffield United.
Therefore, the current excitement is not necessarily a factor that can help Chelsea be rated higher than Man City at a low level.
If there is any factor that motivates Pochettino's students, it is that in the 2 Premier League confrontations this season, the scores were all tied, including 8 goals at Stamford Bridge last November.
At the Etihad last February, Chelsea also played well and Man City only had an equalizer 1-1 in the final minutes.
On the journey to the semi-finals, Chelsea did not encounter too strong opponents - only Aston Villa was the strongest and they needed 2 matches to overcome. The remaining teams are all in the lower division - Preston North End, Leeds United and Leicester City.
For Man City, in addition to Huddersfield Town, the remaining 3 opponents are all in the Premier League - Tottenham, Luton Town, Newcastle.
Regarding the force in this match, coach Pep Guardiola will have to make important adjustments after the dramatic match with Real Madrid that took away all the energy of the players and caused Manuel Akanji, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland to suffer minor pain.
They can still play, but whether their physical condition is guaranteed or not is another matter.
For Chelsea, there are no new injuries but the absentee list is still long with Reece James, Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia, Lesley Ugochukwu, Christopher Nkunku, while Robert Sanchez, axel Disasi, Enzo Fernandez, Raheem Sterling have to race against time.
But the most notable name will be Cole Palmer. The Chelsea midfielder who moved from Man City is in very good form. After the poker against Everton, Palmer has 20 Premier League goals like Haaland.
Palmer also scored against Man City in the 4-4 draw in the Premier League and with the final ahead, the 21-year-old was even more eager to score.
The problem is, after the fall in the Champions League, Man City will rectify so as not to violate the same result.
Prediction: Man City 2-2 Chelsea (Man City won in extra time)
