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Chelsea and Manchester City will meet at Wembley for the first FA Cup semi-final of the weekend on Saturday, live on talkSPORT.
The Premier League giants are going head-to-head to book a place in the final to take on one of Manchester United and Coventry City.
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Mauricio Pochettino’s side have already been beaten in a showpiece clash this season, losing to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup in February.
They will be aiming to leave Wembley on a high this time around, as they take on last year’s winners Man City who were knocked out of the Champions League in midweek.
City were dumped out of Europe by Real Madrid following a dramatic penalty shootout on Wednesday night.
Chelsea vs Man City: Penalty drama
City would love penalty revenge but Chelsea will be hoping for anything but on Saturday.
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Otherwise, there’s a chance they’ll all be fighting each other for the spot-kicks again!
Against Everton last time out, Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson had to be pulled away from Cole Palmer after arguing over who took a penalty.
Madueke picked up the ball to take it before Jackson snatched it away to have it for himself.
Palmer then stepped in to grab it and pushed Jackson away as he put the ball on the spot before Conor Gallagher had to get involved to stop them bickering.
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The former Man City man eventually scored his fourth of the game to lead Chelsea to a 6-0 win, but it was the debacle beforehand that took the headlines.
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- Chelsea have been eliminated from the five of their last seven FA Cup ties against Manchester City, including in the third round last season. However, they did beat the Citizens 1-0 the last time they played them in the semi-final of the competition (2020-21).
- Manchester City are unbeaten in their last eight meetings with Chelsea in all competitions (W6 D2), though both games between the sides in the Premier League this season have been drawn.
Chelsea vs Man City: Team news
Chelsea XI: Petrovic; Gusto, Chalobah, Silva, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Gallagher; Jackson.
Subs: Bettinelli, Badiashile, Disasi, Gilchrist, Chilwell, Chukwuemeka, Mudryk, Sterling, Washington.
Man City XI: Ortega Moreno, Walker, Stones, Akanji, Ake, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden, Grealish, Alvarez.
Subs: Ederson, Dias, Kovacic, Doku, Gomez, Gvardiol, Nunes, Bobb, Lewis
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- This will be Chelsea’s 27th appearance in the FA Cup semi-finals, the third most in the competition’s history after Manchester United (32, including 2024) and Arsenal (30). Indeed, only the Red Devils and Arsenal (21 each, before 2024) have reached the final more often than the Blues (16).
- This is the seventh time in eight seasons under Pep Guardiola that Manchester City are playing in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, while they’ll be the first team to do so in six consecutive campaigns in the competition. However, they’ve only progressed from two of their previous six under the Spaniard (2019 and 2023), with three of their four defeats coming against London sides (2 vs Arsenal, 1 vs Chelsea).
Chelsea vs Man City: What has been said?
Pochettino was full of praise for Palmer after he scored four against Everton last time out.
The Chelsea boss said: “I never judged the players when they sign, it's always we expect the best.
“He hasn't surprised us but he is a player with the capacity to score goals.
"We saw at Manchester City that he had the capacity to score easily, no?
“The way he is performing is fantastic, of course. It is amazing for the team, amazing for him showing that the club made a great decision to sign him.”
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- Chelsea have been eliminated on five of the last six occasions they’ve faced the holders of the FA Cup in the competition. However, they did win their most recent such encounter, beating Manchester United 1-0 in the quarter-final of the 2017 edition.
- Manchester City are looking to reach the FA Cup final in consecutive campaigns for the third time in their history, previously doing so in 1933/1934 and 1955/1956.
Chelsea vs Man City: talkSPORT coverage
This FA Cup semi-final will take place on Saturday, April 20.
Kick-off at Wembley Stadium is scheduled for 5:15pm.
Read More on talkSPORT
talkSPORT will have live coverage of the game presented by Adrian Durham.
Commentary will come from Sam Matterface and former Chelsea defender Scott Minto.