FA Cup: Chelsea Face a Sky Blue Backlash

Manchester City vs Chelsea

Manchester City and Chelsea are in FA Cup action this weekend as the oldest cup competition in the world reaches the semi-final stage.

The victors will meet the winners of Manchester United and Coventry City in the showcase final on 25^th May, and the FA Cup 2024 betting odds reckon the champions will come from this tie between Pep Guardiola’s current holders and Mauricio Pochettino’s Carabao Cup finalists. 

City are priced at 1.60 to win the tournament with Chelsea at SBOTOP odds of 7.00, so the Londoners do face a difficult challenge on Saturday. 

Manchester City have flipped the switch and are back at the top of the Premier League, but they crashed out of the Champions League on Wednesday in a penalty shootout loss to Real Madrid, and Guardiola will expect a response from his team.

Poch’s Blues are in decent form, though. They come into the game on the back of a thumping 6-0 win over Everton which extended their Premier League unbeaten run to eight matches, and Chelsea sit in ninth, just three points behind seventh-placed Manchester United and with a game in hand.

It all adds up to an exciting prospect at a packed Wembley Stadium, so let’s take a look at the latest news in each camp.

Talking Points

Shot happy Sky Blues are off target

So the double treble dream is over for Pep Guardiola’s team after they failed to beat Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, drawing 1-1 and then losing out on penalties as the experienced pair of Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic missed their spot-kicks.

After Kevin De Bruyne had cancelled out Rodrygo’s opener, it looked like the Sky Blues would go on and win it. Los Blancos seemed to be dead on their feet, but they held out until the shootout lottery, and then they held their nerve.

With 33 shots to Madrid’s nine and nine to three on target, the Sky Blues had ample opportunity to win, but they lacked that cutting edge, not for the first time in recent weeks.

Title rivals Arsenal put on a masterclass in defending when they met City in the league at the end of March, coming away with a 0-0 draw.

So Chelsea have been shown how to frustrate the Sky Blues, but hey, they will shoot on sight. And in amongst their disappointments against the Gunners and Los Blancos, City scored four against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa and five against Luton Town.     

Cold Palmer is on fire

While the Sky Blues suffered an infuriating night in front of goal in midweek, one of their former academy players, Cole Palmer, was helping himself to a hatful of goals, four to be precise.

He’s the brightest shining star in the Premier League right now, and his composure in the penalty area has earned him the nickname “Cold Palmer” from his teammates.

As the Blues dismantled the Toffees in brutal fashion, Palmer scored a hat-trick within the first half an hour. And now with 20 goals, he leads the race for the Golden Boot, jointly with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, though the English man does have nine assists compared to the big Norwegian’s five.

Palmer showed all his cool and technical brilliance against Everton, beating defender Jarrad Branthwaite with a cheeky nutmeg before curling in a beauty for his first. His second was a well-taken header, and his third lobbed keeper Jordan Pickford from all of 40 yards. 

Nicolas Jackson and Alfie Gilchrist were both on target, and Palmer was cold as ice when he fired home his fourth from the penalty spot, unlike Silva and Kovavic on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old superstar is surely a shoo-in for England’s Euro 2024 squad, and his form in front of goal is all the more amazing as he had never scored a league goal before his move from Manchester City in the summer.

The Sky Blues have an incredible array of talent at their disposal, but it looks like they have let this one slip.     

History

Chelsea have just about enjoyed the better of the head-to-head meetings, with 29 wins to Manchester City’s 26 in all competitions since 1993.  

This season both Premier League games resulted in a draw, 4-4 at Stamford Bridge and 1-1 at the Etihad Stadium. But last May, Manchester City celebrated their third consecutive Premier League triumph with a 1-0 win over Chelsea, with Julian Alvarez scoring the early winner.   

The Sky Blues are unbeaten in 27 games while Chelsea are unbeaten in eight.  

Betting Tip

With Guardiola’s men at odds of 1.52 to win this game and Chelsea at 4.35 with the draw at 3.95, City are clear favourites.    

Their former player Palmer will make plenty of FA Cup 2024 highlights for sure, but I’m not sure the Chelsea defence will be able to withstand a Sky Blue wave. 

 

●●●

CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS

Stay updated with everything sports and betting.

Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.