Chelsea FA cup semi -final preview.
Saturday, 25th Apr 2026 18:58 by Mark Monk
Daniel Farke was not even born the very last time Leeds won an FA cup semi-final and was just 10 years old when we last played in one!
But he's just one game off writing his own place in United history as Leeds look to extend their unbeaten run against Chelsea to three-matches.
Farke first must decide if he sticks with Karl Darlow in goal or brings in "cup keeper" Lucas Perri. The Brazilian has performed heroics in our FA Cup run this season, particularly at Birmingham in R4 and West Ham in the last round in both penalty shoot outs but he has been below average in the league this season meaning Darlow has been our first choice overall. Darlow had a busy night at Bournemouth on Wednesday so my hunch is Farke will stick with Perri for this one.
Jaydn Bogle limped off with a foot injury on Wednesday so if hes out then id expect the dependable and versatile James Justin to slot in to right-back. Our bargain £10m signing from League One bound Leicester City. JJ has been amazing since Christmas and started the 2-2 draw at Bournemouth as a make-shift centre back. With the welcome return of Joe Rodon midweek, id expect to see the Welshman start with Jaka Bijiol and Pascal Struijk in the centre of defence with Gaby Gudmonsen as left-wing back.
With Anton Stach missing and Ilia Gruev now out for the rest of the season, id expect to see Ao Tanaka partner "Chelsea Reject" Ethan Ampadu, our skipper and a steal at just £7m with Noah Okafor on the left and Brendan Aaronson on the right. Up front Im going for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to be preferred over Lukas Nmecha, although I thought Nmecha did well when he came on as a sub on Wednesday night.
Chelsea are in the middle of yet another crisis and having dispensed with Liam Rosenior midweek, costing them a reported £24m severance pay-off,
So for the second time this season the reigns fall to Callum McFarlane. He took temporary charge in January following the departure of Enzo Maresca only arriving at Stamford Bridge last summer as an U21's coach, a position he's worked at for both of this weekends other FA Cup semi-finalists Southampton and Manchester City and obviously we will be hoping its too much of a miracle to arrest five straight league defeats for the 38 year old in such a short space of time.
But they'll still be favourites with their squad depth especially of Cole Palmer plays, nevertheless I fancy a 2-1 win for us!
Photo: Action Images via Reuters
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