**Date:** Saturday 16th May 2026
**Venue**: Wembley Stadium
**Kick-off:** 15:00 BST
This afternoon, sees Chelsea and Manchester City square up at Wembley for the seventh time – and rather than a polite handshake, we’re going head-to-head for the FA Cup.
Manchester City have already picked up the EFL Cup and could easily add a domestic double this afternoon—because apparently, that’s just what the scriptwriters have in mind. They’re the favourites, of course, and who could possibly argue given the sparkling form Chelsea have shown? Chelsea, by the way, have nabbed the FA Cup eight times from their sixteen finals, but today City are eyeing up their own eighth—after, you know, those two final mishaps against United and Palace. No big deal, just another day at the office.
Chelsea have been rattling in goals in this cup like it’s some sort of clearance sale. The league? Oh, that’s a different story. Clearly, the squad have been hoarding all their finishing for Wembley’s big stage. And let’s not forget, four of the cup opponents weren’t even Premier League outfits. So, really, it’s all been a bit of a warm-up at Butlins before arriving for the proper gig. That six-game Premier League losing streak finally ended with a draw against Liverpool, which, given that Villa made Liverpool look ordinary last night, proves Chelsea’s turnaround is—well—open to interpretation.
Meanwhile, Manchester City seem to have remembered where the goal is just as the Premier League wraps up—timing that’s, frankly, wasted since the title’s out of reach. But at least their late burst might net them another shiny trophy. If their timing was any better, they’d be running the trains out of Euston.
Since Chelsea toppled City in the 2020-21 Champions League final, City have well and truly slammed the door, double-locked the windows, and probably fitted an alarm system—Chelsea haven’t beaten them since. So, if you’re expecting the script to flip today, you might want to check your optimism for caffeine content. But, hey, football’s nothing without a bit of hopeless hope, isn’t it?
**MANAGER’S VIEWS**
Going into today’s game, Calum McFarlane, says _“The players have got the belief they can beat anyone – we just know that we have to be the best version of ourselves. Manchester City are an exceptional side with an exceptional coach and exceptional players, so it’s going to be a challenge. But we also have really good players, and these players have shown that if they’re at their best, they can beat anyone. We will try to keep it as normal as possible and try and get the same sort of performance we got against Leeds and Liverpool. But, of course, it’s a massive game and you can’t hide away from that. We all want to win.”_
Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, meanwhile says, _“I would prefer to have seven days like Chelsea had but when you reach the final of the Carabao Cup (League Cup) and you win one of these domestic trophies, then you have less days. The schedule is what it is. Of course, it’s not ideal but we did it in the past and we’ll have to do it tomorrow. The big clubs, when you are in more difficult circumstances than the opponent, you do extra to try to do it. It’s not the perfect scenario to prepare for the final because we didn’t train absolutely anything since Crystal Palace. But I rely a lot on what we have to do and we’re going to try._
_The message (to the players) is how we have to move, run, play against Chelsea to beat them. It is the FA Cup final at Wembley with two prestigious clubs, with our fans that make an incredible effort to come down to London – which today is not cheap – and try to perform as good as possible to win.”_
**SQUAD NEWS**
For Chelsea, Jamie Gittens (thigh), Jesse Derry (head), Estevao Willian (knee) are all injured. Mykhaylo Mudryk continues to serve a 4-year ban pending appeal. Robert Sanchez (head), Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho (both muscle) are all available again.
For Manchester City, Rodri (groin) is their only doubt.
**TEAMS**
CHELSEA (Possible line-up): Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Hato; James, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez, Cucurella; Pedro
MANCHESTER CITY (Possible line-up): Trafford; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Gonzalez, Bernardo; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland
**LAST MEETING**
Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City (12th April 2026)
**CURRENT FORM (ALL)**
CHELSEA: LLLWLD
MANCHESTER CITY: WWWDWW
**OTHER STUFF**
* Manchester City have appeared in the last 3 FA Cup finals before today
* Chelsea are the only club to lose 3 consecutive FA Cup finals
* This is Chelsea’s 17th FA Cup final appearance
* Manchester City have not lost in their last 13 games against Chelsea in all competitions
* Chelsea have won eight and lost eight of the FA Cup finals so far
**PREDICTION**
[Sportsmole](Preview: Chelsea vs Manchester City - prediction, team news, lineups - Sports Mole): Chelsea 0-2 Manchester City