Man City v Chelsea talking points: Haaland's final drought

TL;DR

Manchester City faces Chelsea in the FA Cup final, marking their fourth consecutive appearance in the finals. Erling Haaland is yet to score in nine finals for City, despite a strong overall performance from the team.

Key points

Manchester City plays in four consecutive FA Cup finals.
Chelsea has a 13-game winless run against City.
Erling Haaland has not scored in nine finals for Manchester City.

Manchester CityChelseaErling HaalandFA Cup

![FA Cup 2025–26 Stats Comparison

Chelsea Goals: 21 Goals conceded: 3 Shots: 92 Shots faced: 54 Clean sheets: 3 Average possession: 70%

Manchester City Goals: 21 Goals conceded: 3 Shots: 98 Shots faced: 39 Clean sheets: 2 Average possession: 67%](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/JdjnMpkRwWzyaP7qWRXtIA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTk1NztjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/bbc_us_articles_995/44491437e41e5131b7325ae000ccec2d)

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Manchester City are the first team to play in four consecutive FA Cup finals, beating Manchester United in 2023 before losing to the Red Devils in 2024 and Crystal Palace in 2025. Only Chelsea (2020 to 2022) have ever lost the FA Cup final in three consecutive campaigns.
Chelsea's 13-game winless run against City is their longest against an opponent since going 17 without a victory against Arsenal between January 1999 and March 2004.
Since losing the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League final to Chelsea, City haven't lost any of their last 13 games against the Blues in all competitions (W10 D3), their longest unbeaten run against them.
Erling Haaland is looking to score in a final for Manchester City for the first time – he has played in nine finals (including the Community Shield) and had 15 shots without success. His last goal in a final was for Borussia Dortmund against RB Leipzig in May 2021 in the German DFB Pokal, when he scored twice.

Q&A