FA Cup semi-final preview: Man City vs Chelsea

Pep Guardiola suffered a rare humbling on Wednesday, the reigning champions knocked out of the Champions League on home turf as Real Madrid progressed to the semis after winning a penalty shootout.

Now the Citizens head to Wembley with a Prem and FA Cup double still a going concern. Can Maurico Pochettino’s madcap crew possibly send City packing from the Cup?

Even as they beat Everton in startingly emphatic fashion on Monday, Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke managed to add a tawdry subplot to proceedings as they bickered over who would take a penalty.

Cole Palmer would eventually step up to score his fourth of the night; the former Man City player really can do no wrong for Chelsea at the moment.

Does that extend to Palmer knocking his old club out of the FA Cup on Sunday? Just because it would make for an incredible narrative, doesn’t mean it won’t happen…

As hit-and-miss as Chelsea can be, they’ve frustrated City twice already in this campaign. It ended 4-4 when the sides met at Stamford Bridge in November, and Chelsea held Guardiola’s team to a 1-1 draw at the Etihad in February.

If this game ends in a draw after 90 minutes or extra time, a penalty shootout will determine the outcome. And with the Blues having already taken City the distance twice already, this could well be another match that goes all the way.

Backing Chelsea to go through at 49/20 has some appeal then; if that sounds like a faintly hopeful section, there’s nothing romantic about selecting Cole Palmer to find the net. The 21-year-old has scored 11 goals in his last six matches, and is 13/5 to get on the scoresheet.

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