Chelsea make their second trip to Wembley of the season as they take on Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Success against second-tier opposition has led the Blues into the last four, and they’ll take plenty of confidence into Saturday’s game given their record against the Cityzens this season.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men earned two draws against City in the Premier League, and they’ll be facing a team that slogged it out with Real Madrid in midweek only to exit the Champions League on penalties.
Chelsea must sense the opportunity this weekend, especially given that they head into the semi-final off the back of their most convincing win of the Pochettino era thus far. Here’s how the Blues could line up at Wembley on Saturday.
GK: Djordje Petrovic – Robert Sanchez may return to the matchday squad, but Pochettino will likely keep summer arrival Petrovic in the XI after he kept a clean sheet on Monday.
RB: Axel Disasi – Disasi missed the Everton thrashing, but he’s back in training and poised to return to the lineup. The towering defender has switched between right-back and centre-back this season, with Pochettino likely to opt for a more cautious approach.
CB: Trevoh Chalobah – Chalobah has earned a string of starts, and there’s no suggestion that he’ll be dropped on Saturday.
CB: Thiago Silva – Silva may be well into his twilight, but the Brazilian is still capable of a vintage display. His experience will be crucial in shutting down City in the final third.
LB: Marc Cucurella – Ben Chilwell’s status is up in the air for this one, and while Levi Colwill could be back from a lengthy layoff, the chaotic Cucurella is set to get the nod at left-back.
DM: Moises Caicedo – His debut season has been up and down but Caicedo impressed against Everton and will sense the chance to make a real statement here.
DM: Enzo Fernandez – The classy Argentine missed Monday’s game, but the Chelsea boss has always been confident that his issue was minor. Fernandez is back in training and he’ll start at Wembley.
RM: Cole Palmer – The man of the hour has netted consecutive hat-tricks at Stamford Bridge and will now be aiming to inflict some damage on his former club this weekend.
AM: Conor Gallagher – Key to Chelsea’s work without the ball, Gallagher will run all day in a bid to disrupt City’s venerated possession play.
LM: Raheem Sterling – Another former Cityzen who’ll be desperate to impress. Sterling should have recovered from an illness in time to start at the weekend.
ST: Nicolas Jackson – Who knows what Chelsea do at the striker position in the summer, but Jackson has shown enough this season to suggest he’s worth clinging on to. He scored his first goal in four games last time out and will be a nuisance in transition.
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