\n<\/p>\n
Chelsea winning against Manchester City in the FA Cup final would be one of their most pivotal victories this season. It will not only hand them a piece of silverware during this poor campaign, but also provide the Blues with a direct Europa League qualification spot, as the Champions League hopes are now as good as gone.<\/p>\n
Chelsea will go into the game without the likes of Estevao, Jesse Derry and Jamie Gittens due to their respective injuries whereas Robert Sanchez, Alejandro Garnacho, Pedro Neto and Tosin Adarabioyo remain doubtful for the crucial cup final, although there is positivity around the first three.<\/p>\n
FORMATION:<\/strong> 3-4-2-1<\/p>\n ROBERT SANCHEZ:<\/strong> Sanchez missed the last game but judging from Calum McFarlane\u2019s pre-match comments, it looks like he could be fit enough to start against Manchester City.<\/p>\n WESLEY FOFANA:<\/strong> Fofana is expected to start his second game under McFarlane after being benched by the likes of Tosin and Trevoh Chalobah during the first two fixtures under the interim manager.<\/p>\n LEVI COLWIL<\/strong>L:<\/strong> After spending almost a full season out with an ACL injury, it really needs recognition how Colwill has been able to perform like he was never gone. After featuring for only two games this campaign, he is now expected to start the FA Cup final as well.<\/p>\n JORREL HATO:<\/strong> The Dutch defender appears to have earned the trust of McFarlane. He started the Blues\u2019 last game against Liverpool at Anfield. He is also likely to make the starting XI today.<\/p>\n MALO WANTS:<\/strong> Despite Reece James returning to full fitness, Gusto is expected to start at right-back. He has started all three games under the management of McFarlane<\/p>\n MARC CUCURELLA:<\/strong> Undoubtedly Cucurella has come about as one of Chelsea\u2019s most consistent performers. There is absolutely no reason for McFarlane to bench the Spanish left-back during the crucial fixture at Wembley.<\/p>\n REECE JAMES<\/strong>: The club captain will definitely not like to sit out during a game of this magnitude. Even if he is not back to full pace. James has been training with the rest of the squad quite comfortably since returning from his recent injury. He might get the nod in midfield, just like he did in the Club World Cup final vs PSG.<\/p>\n MOISES CAICEDO:<\/strong> During the recent fixtures, Caicedo has failed to emulate his brilliant form, which he showed at the start of the season. McFarlane will most likely keep his trust in the Ecuadorian midfielder for the final. There is no way he won\u2019t be starting.<\/p>\n ENZO FERNANDEZ:<\/strong> Despite coming under the scanner for his comments in recent months, no one at Chelsea can deny the role Fernandez has played this season for the Blues. He has already scored four times in the FA Cup despite playing from the midfield. This would not be a bad occasion to add to that tally.<\/p>\n COLE PALMER:<\/strong> Aligning with the Blues\u2019 inconsistent campaign so far, Palmer is also going through a rough patch this season. But the 24-year-old could be the difference maker today against his former side. You can never write off players like him from these grand stages.<\/p>\n JOAO PEDRO:<\/strong> The Brazilian forward has already scored 23 times in his debut season for the Blues. He will be hungry to add to his tally and take home a winner\u2019s medal at the end of the game.<\/p>\n Can the Blues defy the odds and win the coveted FA Cup title for a ninth time in their history? Many people have written them off already. Now, it is up to the Blues to prove the doubters wrong and add another trophy to their cabinet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chelsea winning against Manchester City in the FA Cup final would be one of their…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}