Chelsea has just experienced a 5-game losing streak in the Premier League. This makes it very unlikely for them to compete for a UEFA Champions League spot next season. Coach Liam Rosenior has also been sacked. Calum McFarlane replaced him to lead the London team until the end of the season.
The FA Cup semi-final match with Leeds United at Wembley Stadium at 9:00 PM on April 26th is Calum McFarlane's debut. The winning team in this match will face Man City or Southampton in the final.
Notable statistics
Chelsea have faced Leeds in six previous FA Cup matches and have won all six matches. Most recently, in round 5 of the 2023-2024 season. This is Chelsea's most impressive achievement against an FA Cup team, only behind Hull City (9 consecutive wins).
The 1970 FA Cup final was the only time Chelsea faced Leeds at Wembley Stadium.
The only previous meeting between the two teams in the FA Cup semi-finals was in 1967 at Villa Park. At that time, Tony Hateley scored the only goal to help Chelsea beat the opponent 1-0.
The two teams have also met three times in the League Cup. All three times ended with a victory for Chelsea.
This season, the two teams have met in two Premier League matches. In which, Leeds United dominated when winning 3-1 at home and drawing 2-2 away.
Chelsea are playing the 65th semi-final of a major tournament and the 29th FA Cup semi-final. The Stamford Bridge team has reached the FA Cup semi-finals 7 times in the last 10 seasons.
Chelsea have won 10 of their last 12 FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley Stadium (both old and new) and lost 2 matches to Man City in 2013 and 2024.
Interim coach Calum McFarlane is aiming to become the first English strategist to reach the FA Cup final since Frank Lampard with Chelsea in the 2019-2020 season.
With Leeds United, this is the first time in 39 years they have reached the FA Cup semi-finals. In total, they have participated in 17 FA Cup semi-finals and 13 finals in this playground.
Leeds' two most recent appearances at the new Wembley Stadium were in the 2008 League One play-off final and the 2024 Championship play-off final; both matches they lost with a score of 0-1.
Leeds are unbeaten in seven consecutive matches in all competitions (four wins, including one penalty win, and two draws). They kept a clean sheet in all four of those matches.
Leeds has conceded 11 goals since the 90th minute on this season, more than any other team in the Premier League in all competitions (excluding extra time).
The new coach's determination
McFarlane admitted that he inherited a team that was in poor form, when Chelsea entered the match at Wembley after a 5-game losing streak in the Premier League and did not score any goals. However, he affirmed that Chelsea's current ability allows them to end their current bad streak, so that they can finish the season well.
He said: "Chelsea still has a lot of faith. The team has had some good matches this year against top teams. Some players in the team are the best in the world in their positions, so we still believe that we can turn the situation around and bring the season back in the right direction.
We want to control the match and play in our own style, most suitable for the players in the team. We want to play strong attack. We need to ensure we play well in every aspect because we are facing a really strong team.
And the most important thing is that Chelsea needs to focus highly on the match, not thinking about anything else. Everyone is very excited because this is a big match and a great opportunity to advance to the FA Cup final".
