Chelsea vs Manchester City (FA Cup Final): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch

“I was surprised!” – Josko Gvardiol reveals late notice over Manchester City start against Crystal Palace

Antoine Semenyo opened the scoring for the hosts after being set up by Foden in the 32nd minute. The Englishman went on to provide another assist for their second goal, netted by Marmoush in the 40th minute.

The third and final goal of the match came with Savinho’s left-footed shot in the 84th minute following an assist by Cherki with a through-ball.

Crystal Palace, along with Manchester City, were the finalists in the FA Cup last year and the match ended in a 1-0 win for the Eagles, who lifted their first-ever major trophy while also securing their a maiden UEFA competition qualification.

With this comfortable victory on Wednesday, Manchester City rank second in the Premier League, with 77 points in 36 matches and a goal difference of +43.

While City now have a two-point difference from table-toppers Arsenal with two more league games left for the season, Guardiola’s clan will need to win the remaining matches and hope for the Gunners to drop points in order to claim their 11th Premier League title.

With the EFL Cup in the bag, Manchester City are also on track to win the domestic treble, making the upcoming FA Cup Final momentous.

Chelsea, meanwhile, are currently ninth in the top flight with 49 points in 36 matches after their 1-1 draw against Liverpool in their previous league game.

The FA Cup final is the West London club’s only chance of winning some silverware this season, and also their most direct path to secure a spot in a European competition for the next campaign.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of this crucial FA Cup Final tie!

Match Details

Manchester City will face Chelsea in the FA Cup Final on Saturday 16 April at 15:00 UK at Wembley Stadium.

Match Officials

Darren England will be the referee for Manchester City against Chelsea in the FA Cup final.

Check out the full team of officials for here!

Match Officials: Darren England to referee Chelsea vs Manchester City (FA Cup Final)

Team News

Manchester City’s victory over Crystal Palace saw their previously injured players return to the pitch.

While otherwise a near clean bill of health, doubts over Rodri’s availability for the upcoming final continue. The Ballon d’Or winner has been missing in action since picking up an injury in City’s 2-1 win over Arsenal last month.

Speaking before the midweek win over Palace, Guardiola mentioned that Rodri has returned to training and is better; however, his availability for the FA Cup final remains to be confirmed.

Haaland, Cherki and Doku are all expected to return to the starting XI on Saturday after being rested against the Eagles.

Chelsea, meanwhile, will be without Estevao for the FA Cup final after the Brazilian was ruled out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury sustained in a 1-0 loss to Manchester United in April.

In his pre-match press conference, interim head coach Calum McFarlane confirmed that Levi Colwill – who recently returned to action following a knee ligament injury – and Reece James, who was back on the pitch last weekend after a hamstring issue, have trained well ahead of this final.

On Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto, who have sat out the last two games with knocks, McFarlane also provided positive updates, mentioning that the duo has trained well this week.

As for goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, who was sidelined for last week’s trip to Merseyside after sustaining a head injury with Nottingham Forest a few weeks ago, McFarlane said that the Spaniard had returned to training this week and could be available on Saturday.

Why Nico Gonzalez missed Manchester City squad for Crystal Palace win, as explained by Pep Guardiola

Press Conference Quotes

Pep Guardiola will preview the final in front of the media from 12:30 UK on Friday 15 May.

Refresh for updates.

Head-to-Head

The last meeting between the two sides ended in a 3-0 Premier League win for Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in April.

Following a goalless first-half – O’Reilly, Marc Guehi and Doku found the back of the net respectively to bring the victory to the away side.

Manchester City’s 1-1 league draw against Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium in January marked their first encounter of the ongoing season.

Since their loss in the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League final to Chelsea, Manchester City have remained undefeated in their last 13 games against the south-west London side in all competitions, with 10 wins and three draws.

The upcoming final will be the seventh meeting between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley. The last time both clubs met in the FA Cup was the semi-final of the 2023-24 campaign, which ended in a 1-0 win for Guardiola’s team.

Pep Guardiola hands worrying Rodri fitness update ahead of FA Cup final against Chelsea

Statistics

Manchester City have lifted seven FA Cup titles while Chelsea have claimed the cup eight times.

With this year’s qualification for the knockout competition’s final, City are the first team to play in four consecutive FA Cup finals, defeating Manchester United in 2023 before losing to the Red Devils in 2024 and Crystal Palace in 2025.

Chelsea, meanwhile, will be playing in their 17th FA Cup final, the third most after Manchester United (22) and Arsenal (21). They were defeated in the competition’s final in three consecutive years (2020-22).

Since the 2016-17 season, City and Chelsea have been the two sides to win the most games in the FA Cup, with 45 and 37 wins respectively, while also scoring the most goals (City 159, Chelsea 111) and maintaining the most clean sheets (City 28, Chelsea 26) in that period.

In the last two editions of the FA Cup, Manchester City’s Doku has been the player with the most goal involvements (three goals and five assists).

Haaland will be looking to score his first goal in a final for Manchester City on Saturday. Despite playing in nine finals for the club, the Norwegian has failed to register a goal.

Wembley is also the only stadium where Haaland has played more than twice for City without finding the back of the net.

Manchester City have won 21 of their last 23 games in the FA Cup, with their only two defeats being in the finals of 2024 and 2025.

“He’s played 2,000 more minutes than Ousmane Dembele” – Pep Guardiola raves about Manchester City’s Erling Haaland

How to Watch

Viewers in the United Kingdom will be able to watch the FA Cup final on BBC One, TNT Sports, BBC iPlayer and HBO Max.

The match will be shown live in the United States via ESPN and fuboTV.

A full list of global TV listings can be found here!

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on X, Facebook and Instagram throughout the matchday, with content also on cityxtra.co.uk!