CHELSEA v Man City: FA Cup Final Preview
Date: Saturday 16th
May 2026
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 BST
This
afternoon, sees Chelsea and Manchester City square up at Wembley for the
seventh time – and rather than a polite handshake, we’re going head-to-head for
the FA Cup.
Manchester
City have already picked up the EFL Cup and could easily add a domestic double
this afternoon—because apparently, that’s just what the scriptwriters have in
mind. They’re the favourites, of course, and who could possibly argue given the
sparkling form Chelsea have shown? Chelsea, by the way, have nabbed the FA Cup
eight times from their sixteen finals, but today City are eyeing up their own
eighth—after, you know, those two final mishaps against United and Palace. No
big deal, just another day at the office.
Chelsea have been
rattling in goals in this cup like it’s some sort of clearance sale. The
league? Oh, that’s a different story. Clearly, the squad have been hoarding all
their finishing for Wembley’s big stage. And let’s not forget, four of the cup
opponents weren’t even Premier League outfits. So, really, it’s all been a bit
of a warm-up at Butlins before arriving for the proper gig. That six-game
Premier League losing streak finally ended with a draw against Liverpool,
which, given that Villa made Liverpool look ordinary last night, proves
Chelsea’s turnaround is—well—open to interpretation.
Meanwhile, Manchester
City seem to have remembered where the goal is just as the Premier League wraps
up—timing that’s, frankly, wasted since the title’s out of reach. But at least
their late burst might net them another shiny trophy. If their timing was any
better, they’d be running the trains out of Euston.
Since Chelsea toppled
City in the 2020-21 Champions League final, City have well and truly slammed
the door, double-locked the windows, and probably fitted an alarm
system—Chelsea haven’t beaten them since. So, if you’re expecting the script to
flip today, you might want to check your optimism for caffeine content. But,
hey, football’s nothing without a bit of hopeless hope, isn’t it?
MANAGER’S VIEWS
Going
into today’s game, Calum McFarlane, says “The players have got the belief
they can beat anyone – we just know that we have to be the best version of
ourselves. Manchester City are an exceptional side with an exceptional coach
and exceptional players, so it’s going to be a challenge. But we also have
really good players, and these players have shown that if they’re at their
best, they can beat anyone. We will try to keep it as normal as possible and
try and get the same sort of performance we got against Leeds and Liverpool.
But, of course, it’s a massive game and you can’t hide away from that. We all
want to win.”
Manchester
City manager, Pep Guardiola, meanwhile says, “I would prefer to have seven
days like Chelsea had but when you reach the final of the Carabao Cup (League
Cup) and you win one of these domestic trophies, then you have less days. The
schedule is what it is. Of course, it’s not ideal but we did it in the past and
we’ll have to do it tomorrow. The big clubs, when you are in more difficult
circumstances than the opponent, you do extra to try to do it. It’s not the
perfect scenario to prepare for the final because we didn’t train absolutely
anything since Crystal Palace. But I rely a lot on what we have to do and we’re
going to try.
The
message (to the players) is how we have to move, run, play against Chelsea to
beat them. It is the FA Cup final at Wembley with two prestigious clubs, with
our fans that make an incredible effort to come down to London – which today is
not cheap – and try to perform as good as possible to win.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Chelsea, Jamie Gittens (thigh), Jesse
Derry (head), Estevao Willian (knee) are all injured. Mykhaylo Mudryk continues
to serve a 4-year ban pending appeal. Robert Sanchez (head), Pedro Neto and Alejandro
Garnacho (both muscle) are all available again.
For Manchester City, Rodri (groin)
is their only doubt.
TEAMS
CHELSEA (Possible line-up): Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Hato; James, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez, Cucurella; Peter
MANCHESTER CITY (Possible line-up): Trafford; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Gonzalez, Bernardo; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland
LAST MEETING
Chelsea 0-3 Manchester
City (12th April 2026)
CURRENT FORM (ALL)
CHELSEA: LLLWLD
MANCHESTER CITY: WWWDWW
OTHER STUFF
- Manchester
City have appeared in the last 3 FA Cup finals before today - Chelsea
are the only club to lose 3 consecutive FA Cup finals - This
is Chelsea’s 17th FA Cup final appearance - Manchester
City have not lost in their last 13 games against Chelsea in all competitions - Chelsea
have won eight and lost eight of the FA Cup finals so far
PREDICTION
Sportsmole: Chelsea 0-2 Manchester City
