Chelsea could not need a win at a showpiece event more badly than they do right now.
The Blues were sinking swiftly under Liam Rosenior, losing five successive games without a single goal scored in the Premier League before his dismissal last month. Calum McFarlane was back for a second stint as the interim head coach, overseeing a 1-0 victory over Leeds United in the FA Cup semi-final. However, a 3-1 loss to Nottingham Forest followed, ending the scoring hoodoo with injury time acrobatics from Joao Pedro, and the 1-1 draw with Liverpool was not much better.
From being in the mix for Champions League football, Chelsea are now more likely than not to miss out on Europe altogether for the first time since 2023. Everton, Fulham and Sunderland could all go above them by Sunday to leave the Londoners in 12th position in the table. The security of success in another cup competition would be a big boost— even if the history books are not in their favour.
Woes at Wembley Stadium are also fresh in the mind of a club that have quickly lost their edge from the pre-BlueCo days. The last visit to the national stadium witnessed a 1-0 defeat to a largely second-string Liverpool outfit in the Carabao Cup final, and the team lost three successive FA Cup finals between 2020 and 2022 against Arsenal (2-1), Leicester City (1-0) and Liverpool (on penalties.)
Meanwhile, Manchester City have made Wembley their second home. Their 2-1 victory against Southampton in the previous round meant they became the first side to reach four successive FA Cup finals in the history of the game’s oldest cup competition. The last two (a 1-0 loss against Crystal Palace in 2025 and a 2-1 loss to Manchester United in 2024) should motivate them even more to make a success of a season that soured, then took an upturn before another massive dent.
In mid-March, another trophyless campaign was not out of the question: ruthlessly eliminated from the Champions League by Real Madrid, they were nine points adrift of Arsenal. The Gunners would have been expected to end their trophy drought against their title contending rivals in the Carabao Cup final, but a Nico O’Reilly brace gave the Cityzens the shot of confidence needed.
A 4-0 rout of Liverpool contributed to their FA Cup run, and a 2-1 win over the Gunners in the Premier League had helped put the title race in their hands. Drawing 3-3 with Everton has now returned the initiative to the league leaders, but a domestic double is not a bad haul for the year.
Team News
Chelsea
Robert Sanchez suffered a collision with Morgan Gibbs-White when Chelsea lost 3-1 to Forest, and the pair have been sidelined for their respective clubs. The Spanish shot stopper has been back in training this week, and McFarlane feels hopeful that he could be in the matchday squad for the final.
The Blues also welcomed back a pair of standard bearers from Cobham against Liverpool as Reece James had rehabbed successfully from his hamstring issues while Levi Colwill came back from the ACL injury that had ruled him out of action for club and country since the Club World Cup final.
Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto were also absent from the trip to Anfield last weekend. Both wingers are likely to be available according to the interim head coach after participating in training.
Manchester City
The main question for the Cityzens in terms of selection involves midfield balance. Rodri is touch-and-go with his fitness, and crucial contests await against Bournemouth and Aston Villa in the title race. If the Spaniard does not start, Nico Gonzalez is a more classic midfield aide to Bernardo Silva.
The sacrificial lamb would be Phil Foden, who grabbed two assists against Crystal Palace in midweek. He is unlikely to be one of the three forwards behind the big number nine as Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki were all benched for the midweek match with the Eagles.
Josko Gvardiol, who featured for the first time since breaking his leg against Chelsea in January, could also miss out on the starting eleven. Nico O’Reilly has usurped Rayan Ait-Nouri as the first choice left back for the team, and he will want to mimic the heroics from the Wembley final in March.
Likely Line-ups
Chelsea
Sanchez; James, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Enzo; Gusto, Palmer, Neto; Pedro
Manchester City
Trafford; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Bernardo, Gonzalez; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland
Key Players
Chelsea – Reece James
Plenty of institutional knowledge about how to win has left Chelsea, but one big presence remains.
Reece James was part of the last Champions League winning side for the Blues in 2021, and he has endured plenty of personal pain at Wembley in domestic cup competition finals to spur him on.
Now that he is back to being on the field, he can return to the role he fulfils best as a ‘leader by example.’ His defensive stability, physical bullishness and ball striking quality can lift the level of the team significantly and he showed his class from the right side of the defensive unit against Real Betis when it mattered the most in the Conference League final last year as a second half substitute.
Especially with who features on the left flank for the Cityzens, his availability is extremely timely.
Manchester City – Jeremy Doku
Erling Haaland is still the standout scorer for the Cityzens and Rayan Cherki has rightfully been nominated for the Young Player of the Season Award. But the developments of the last few weeks have firmly placed the spotlight on another attacker whose qualities can no longer be denied.
Jeremy Doku had earned a frustration for being a winger whose output did not match his threat in 1 v 1 situations. But his relentless drive and acceleration to constantly beat opponents is a unique trait in the City roster, even with the arrival of Antoine Semenyo, and now he is getting the goals to boot.
His brace of brilliant finishes pulled back a point from being 3-1 down against Everton, a deflected strike saw the side equalise against Southampton, and he broke the deadlock against Brentford in the 3-0 triumph last week. The Belgian is brimming with confidence that he should bring to this stage.
Match Details
Where is the game being played?
The game will take place on neutral territory at Wembley Stadium.
What time is kick-off?
Kick-off is scheduled for 15:00 BST on Saturday, 16 May.
How can I watch?
The coverage for the game will be accessible on BBC One for viewers in the UK.