Rodri starts for Manchester City as they make five changes for the FA Cup final against Chelsea. This marks his first appearance since the Premier League win over Arsenal last month.
Key points
Rodri starts for Manchester City
City makes five changes for the FA Cup final
First appearance since Premier League win over Arsenal
Match against Chelsea
Manchester CityChelseaFA CupArsenal
Rodri starts as City make five changes for FA Cup final
Rodri starts as City make five changes for FA Cup final
This is City’s fourth successive FA Cup final while victory here would represent a second domestic cup double in our history after League Cup success at Wembley less than two months ago.
It’s our third meeting with Chelsea this season, after a 1-1 draw at the Etihad and 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.
James Trafford’s goal will be protected by a back four of Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly on either flank and a central pairing of Marc Guéhi and Abdukodir Khusanov.
Rodri and Bernardo Silva will anchor the midfield, with Antoine Semenyo, Omar Marmoush and Jeremy Doku behind Erling Haaland.
Today is our fourth successive FA Cup final – the longest such run in the history of English football.
It’s also the 24th time we’ve been to Wembley as a neutral stadium under Pep Guardiola, which is far and away the most appearances of any side in the last decade.
We’ve won this competition twice under Guardiola, but we’ve also been the most consistent side in that period, winning 45 games and reaching eight consecutive semi-finals.
And success today would equal Guardiola’s 20th major honour as City boss as he approaches the end of his tenth campaign.
Our history in this competition extends way beyond Guardiola’s reign of course, having first won it 122 years ago in 1904.
We already hold the record for the longest time between first triumph and most recent, with the 119 years between 1904 and 2023 a bigger timespan than anyone else.
History continues to happen right before our eyes.
Chelsea’s squad includes several players known to City fans and players, with Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, Romeo Lavia and Tosin Adarabioyo all progressing through our youth system and taking their first steps in senior football with us.
Jamie Gittens also represented our youth teams, while Calum McFarlane – Chelsea’s caretaker boss – has also coached Academy sides at City.
And in the other direction, Nathan Ake, Marc Guéhi and Mateo Kovacic all played for Chelsea before joining City.
Plenty of connections there!
Match stats
● We are the first team to play in four consecutive FA Cup finals, beating Man Utd in 2023 before losing to them in 2024 and Crystal Palace in 2025. Only Chelsea (2020 to 2022) have ever lost the FA Cup final in three consecutive campaigns.
● This is Chelsea’s 17th FA Cup final, the third most after Manchester United (22) and Arsenal (21). They’ve won eight and lost eight of their final appearances so far, losing each of their last three in a row.
● Having already won the EFL Cup, we could win both major English domestic cup competitions this season. It would be the sixth time a team has done so after Arsenal in 1992/93, Liverpool in both 2000/01 and 2021/22, Chelsea in 2006/07 and the ourselves in 2018/19.
● Since losing the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League final to Chelsea, we haven’t lost any of our last 13 games against the Blues in all competitions (W10 D3), our longest unbeaten run against them.
● Chelsea’s 13-game winless run against Man City is their longest against an opponent since going 17 without a victory against Arsenal between January 1999 and March 2004.
● This will be the seventh meeting between Chelsea and City at Wembley (as a neutral venue) – only Chelsea vs Manchester United has been played there more often (9 times).
● Since the 2016/17 season, the two teams to win the most games in the FA Cup are Man City (45) and Chelsea (37), while they’ve also scored the most goals (City 159, Chelsea 111) and kept the most clean sheets (City 28, Chelsea 26) in that time.
