FA Cup semi-final preview

The FA Cup semi-finals are scheduled for this weekend with Arsenal taking on Manchester City while Manchester United will come up against Chelsea. Coincidentally, this season’s semi-finalists are the winners of the competition from the previous four years and it will be interesting to see which teams face each other in the final on August 1. As usual, the final four of the FA Cup will play their matches at the Wembley Stadium.

Preview:

Arsenal vs Manchester City – Saturday: The Gunners recently returned to winning ways after two games with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Premier League champions Liverpool, but they face a stiff challenge against the FA Cup holders. Pep Guardiola’s side have won the past three league games with a 12-1 aggregate score and their recent head-to-head record against the Gunners has been exceptional. They have won each of the previous seven meetings and have scored three goals in six of those matches. They have also conceded only twice. While the Cityzens will be the overwhelming favourites for the encounter, the Gunners will be hoping to replicate the 2017 FA Cup semi-final performance. The north London side picked up a 2-1 win over the Cityzens during that encounter and that remains their last victory over Pep Guardiola’s side.

Manchester United vs Chelsea – Sunday: The Premier League duo have already faced each other on three occasions this season and all of those meetings have gone in United’s favour. Ahead of the Wembley showdown, United are definitely the team in the better shape going forward with 15 goals scored in the past five games when compared to the Blues’ nine. Still, the Blues can’t be counted out and they may have been provided a slight advantage with the scheduling. Frank Lampard’s side played their last league game on Tuesday when compared to United, who were in action on Thursday. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already expressed the unfairness over the timing of the fixture and it remains to be seen whether the lesser rest period has any effect on their performance. United are unbeaten in six games against the Blues since the 2018 FA Cup final loss.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com