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By Neel Shelat
Coaching change unable to turn Chelsea’s form around
A run of seven straight losses against top-flight opposition ended Liam Rosenior’s short-lived tenure as Chelsea head coach. With just a month to go to the end of the season by the time he was dismissed, the Blues decided to ask Calum McFarlane to reprise his interim role. He managed to lead them to the FA Cup final by grinding out a one-goal win against Leeds United, but the subsequent loss to relegation-battling Nottingham Forest and draw against a subpar Liverpool have not done anything to alleviate concerns about the team’s performances.
Over the last three months, Chelsea’s only wins have come against Aston Villa, Wrexham, Port Vale and Leeds United. In the meantime, they have lost nine matches, over half of which were by three-goal margins.
Manchester City’s dominant recent record against the Blues
Further stacking the odds against Chelsea is the fact that they have failed to beat Manchester City in almost five years. Their last win over Pep Guardiola’s side came on the biggest occasion possible in the 2021 Champions League final, but they have drawn just three and lost 10 since then.
McFarlane did oversee a draw against his former employers in Manchester thanks to Enzo Fernández’s last-gasp winner during his initial interim stint earlier this season, but City have won all four of their other meetings over the last couple of seasons.
The 10-time English champions are generally in imperious form, having won eight and drawn the outlier in the last four weeks. They will also set a record of becoming the first team to appear in four consecutive men’s FA Cup finals when they take to the pitch at Wembley.
Team news
Robert Sánchez, Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto have all returned to training for Chelsea after missing recent matches due to minor injuries. That leaves Estêvão and Jamie Gittens as their only major absentees.
Manchester City have a near-fully fit squad to take into this match, with Rodri being the only doubt due to his recent groin injury. Guardiola rested some of his stars in the midweek league game against Crystal Palace, so fatigue won’t be too big a concern either.
Key players
Reece James returned from his latest hamstring injury last weekend to make his first appearance since March. He will be in contention to start here, and could have a big defensive role to play against Jérémy Doku. João Pedro will be keen to cap off his best-ever goal-scoring season with a flourish on the biggest day, while Cole Palmer could produce a moment of magic against the side he made his senior debut for.
Nico O’Reilly has been a surprise big-game contributor for Manchester City this season, and could well repeat his heroics from the EFL Cup final. Rayan Cherki produced two memorable assists when these two sides met last month, Erling Haaland didn’t get on the scoresheet then, so he’ll be raring to score in his first cup outing against Chelsea.
Prediction
Chelsea will be eager to share their record of three-consecutive FA Cup final losses with Manchester City, but it is hard to see them getting the win here in order to do that.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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