{"id":9228,"date":"2026-05-16T18:33:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T18:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=9228"},"modified":"2026-05-16T18:33:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T18:33:24","slug":"chelsea-v-man-city-fa-cup-final-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=9228","title":{"rendered":"CHELSEA v Man City: FA Cup Final Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Date:<\/strong> Saturday 16th<\/sup>
\nMay 2026<\/p>\n

Venue<\/strong>: Wembley Stadium<\/p>\n

Kick-off:<\/strong> 15:00 BST<\/p>\n

This
\nafternoon, sees Chelsea and Manchester City square up at Wembley for the
\nseventh time \u2013 and rather than a polite handshake, we\u2019re going head-to-head for
\nthe FA Cup. <\/p>\n

Manchester
\nCity have already picked up the EFL Cup and could easily add a domestic double
\nthis afternoon\u2014because apparently, that\u2019s just what the scriptwriters have in
\nmind. They\u2019re the favourites, of course, and who could possibly argue given the
\nsparkling form Chelsea have shown? Chelsea, by the way, have nabbed the FA Cup
\neight times from their sixteen finals, but today City are eyeing up their own
\neighth\u2014after, you know, those two final mishaps against United and Palace. No
\nbig deal, just another day at the office.<\/p>\n

Chelsea have been
\nrattling in goals in this cup like it\u2019s some sort of clearance sale. The
\nleague? Oh, that\u2019s a different story. Clearly, the squad have been hoarding all
\ntheir finishing for Wembley\u2019s big stage. And let\u2019s not forget, four of the cup
\nopponents weren\u2019t even Premier League outfits. So, really, it\u2019s all been a bit
\nof a warm-up at Butlins before arriving for the proper gig. That six-game
\nPremier League losing streak finally ended with a draw against Liverpool,
\nwhich, given that Villa made Liverpool look ordinary last night, proves
\nChelsea\u2019s turnaround is\u2014well\u2014open to interpretation.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Manchester
\nCity seem to have remembered where the goal is just as the Premier League wraps
\nup\u2014timing that\u2019s, frankly, wasted since the title\u2019s out of reach. But at least
\ntheir late burst might net them another shiny trophy. If their timing was any
\nbetter, they\u2019d be running the trains out of Euston.<\/p>\n

Since Chelsea toppled
\nCity in the 2020-21 Champions League final, City have well and truly slammed
\nthe door, double-locked the windows, and probably fitted an alarm
\nsystem\u2014Chelsea haven\u2019t beaten them since. So, if you\u2019re expecting the script to
\nflip today, you might want to check your optimism for caffeine content. But,
\nhey, football\u2019s nothing without a bit of hopeless hope, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

MANAGER\u2019S VIEWS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Going
\ninto today\u2019s game, Calum McFarlane, says \u201cThe players have got the belief
\nthey can beat anyone \u2013 we just know that we have to be the best version of
\nourselves. Manchester City are an exceptional side with an exceptional coach
\nand exceptional players, so it\u2019s going to be a challenge. But we also have
\nreally good players, and these players have shown that if they\u2019re at their
\nbest, they can beat anyone. We will try to keep it as normal as possible and
\ntry and get the same sort of performance we got against Leeds and Liverpool.
\nBut, of course, it\u2019s a massive game and you can\u2019t hide away from that. We all
\nwant to win.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Manchester
\nCity manager, Pep Guardiola, meanwhile says, \u201cI would prefer to have seven
\ndays like Chelsea had but when you reach the final of the Carabao Cup (League
\nCup) and you win one of these domestic trophies, then you have less days. The
\nschedule is what it is. Of course, it\u2019s not ideal but we did it in the past and
\nwe\u2019ll have to do it tomorrow. The big clubs, when you are in more difficult
\ncircumstances than the opponent, you do extra to try to do it. It\u2019s not the
\nperfect scenario to prepare for the final because we didn\u2019t train absolutely
\nanything since Crystal Palace. But I rely a lot on what we have to do and we\u2019re
\ngoing to try. <\/em><\/p>\n

The
\nmessage (to the players) is how we have to move, run, play against Chelsea to
\nbeat them. It is the FA Cup final at Wembley with two prestigious clubs, with
\nour fans that make an incredible effort to come down to London \u2013 which today is
\nnot cheap \u2013 and try to perform as good as possible to win.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

SQUAD NEWS<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Chelsea, Jamie Gittens (thigh), Jesse
\nDerry (head), Estevao Willian (knee) are all injured. Mykhaylo Mudryk continues
\nto serve a 4-year ban pending appeal. Robert Sanchez (head), Pedro Neto and Alejandro
\nGarnacho (both muscle) are all available again. <\/p>\n

For Manchester City, Rodri (groin)
\nis their only doubt.<\/p>\n

TEAMS <\/strong><\/p>\n

CHELSEA (Possible line-up): Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Hato; James, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez, Cucurella; Peter<\/p>\n

MANCHESTER CITY (Possible line-up): Trafford; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Gonzalez, Bernardo; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland<\/p>\n

LAST MEETING<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chelsea 0-3 Manchester
\nCity (12th<\/sup> April 2026)<\/p>\n

CURRENT FORM (ALL)<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHELSEA: LLLWLD<\/p>\n

MANCHESTER CITY: WWWDWW<\/p>\n

OTHER STUFF<\/strong><\/p>\n