Chelsea head into the FA Cup semi-final with chaos surrounding the west London club after the sacking of Liam Rosenior, allowing Leeds United their best opportunity to reach a first final since 1972
Enzo Fernandez and Chelsea head into the semi-final without a manager
Enzo Fernandez and Chelsea head into the semi-final without a manager(Image: 2026 Chelsea FC)
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Usually, Chelsea would head into this weekend's FA Cup semi final against Leeds United as strong favourites to win. Big-spending team, full of talent. Champions of the world.
But let's be blunt. Chelsea are not your normal club. And the results of recent weeks have left them engulfed in crisis.
It's now seven defeats in their last eight games in all competitions. A humiliating run including five straight league defeats without even scoring a single goal, culminating in the dismissal of Liam Rosenior, sacked on Wednesday night after their battering at Brighton.
Which leaves Leeds United licking their lips ahead of their meeting at Wembley. A golden chance for Daniel Farke's men to pile more pain on their more illustrious opponents.
It won't have escaped the Leeds' boss' attention that there is one simple quality a team needs - and that his side boasts - to get the better of the London laughing stock: Hard work.
If one statistic is a damning indictment of Chelsea's failing this season it is this: They have been outrun by their opponents in every single league game this campaign. All 34.
Rosenior didn't take charge until the second week of January, but it has been crystal clear that whatever he had been asking the players to do, they couldn't manage it. The same for Enzo Maresca before him - even if he was still getting results. Credit the Italian for getting out before the house of cards fell in on him.
Chelsea players have been refusing to produce the basic requirement of any team on the planet. Leeds, on the other hand, have covered more distance per game than all but one team in the top flight. And that's a Manchester City side suddenly turning the screw as they strive to win another title.
Over the course of this season, Farke has turned his Leeds United side into an industrious team that are hard to beat. Since the end of November, they've been beaten just four times.
Daniel Farke is dreaming of FA Cup glory with Leeds
Daniel Farke is dreaming of FA Cup glory with Leeds
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Leeds work as hard off the ball as on it. The likes of Gabriel Gudmundsson, Brenden Aaronson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin personify the energy levels that Farke demands. And Farke, and his players, will see that Chelsea are there for the taking at Wembley.
On a big pitch, Leeds can outwork a lazy Chelsea side, and grind them into the grass.
Leeds, not Chelsea, should be starting this game as favourites. There's a sentence you didn't think you'd read.
But Leeds, who have reached one FA Cup final in their history. - and that was back in 1972 - will never get a better chance to get there once again.
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