It was in 1915 that Chelsea became the first Football League from London to reach the FA Cup final. More than a century later, the Blues are again the last hope of bringing the trophy back to the capital.
Tomorrow's semi-final against Manchester City at Wembley – which kicks off at 5.15pm – is our second visit to the national stadium in eight weeks. There is the prospect of a third on May 25 if Mauricio Pochettino's side can see off the current holders.
The two sides have faced each other twice in the Premier League this season. Ten goals have been shared in two draws. One way or the other, a winner will be found at Wembley.
Chelsea will make the journey to north London having had five days to prepare for the fixture.
City, in contrast, played 120 minutes against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday evening and were eliminated on penalties. Former Blue Antonio Rudiger scored the decisive spot kick at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola and his side will want immediate redress, but they have failed to progress from four of their previous six FA Cup semi-finals. Three of those defeats came against sides from London, including Chelsea in 2021.
The Blues, who lifted the FA Cup for the eighth time in 2018, will contest a 60th major semi-final and 27th in the world's oldest club competition – and we are bidding to reach the final for the sixth time in the last eight seasons.
Most FA Cup wins
14 - Arsenal
12 - Manchester Utd
8 - Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham
7 - Aston Villa, Manchester City
Chelsea team news
After hitting Everton for six without reply on Monday, Pochettino's side have scored at least two goals in eight successive matches across all competitions. Our last blank came at Wembley in the League Cup final.
A key contributor to that output in the final third has been Cole Palmer. The England international has scored eleven goals in his previous six matches, including one against Leicester in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Nicolas Jackson got himself on the scoresheet on Monday with a well-taken goal having teed up Palmer for the opener. The Senegal international now has 18 goal contributions for the Blues, nudging ever closer to Didier Drogba’s debut season tally of 21.
He would undoubtedly love to emulate the iconic Ivorian’s specialty of scoring at Wembley – and he’s already notched once against the Citizens this season.
Pochettino can call upon Axel Diasi, Enzo Fernandez and Raheem Sterling for our date at Wembley. All three missed the victory over Fulham on Monday evening but have trained this week.
Sterling, in particular, has enjoyed this season's matches against his former club. The winger scored home and away against Guardiola's side and could become the first Chelsea player to net in three separate matches against City in a single season.
2023/24 FA Cup goal contributions
Goals | Assists | Total | |
Raheem Sterling | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Enzo Fernandez | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Nicolas Jackson | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Cole Palmer | 1 | 2 | 3 |
0 | 3 | 3 | |
2 | 0 | 2 | |
1 | 1 | 2 | |
1 | 0 | 1 | |
1 | 0 | 1 | |
1 | 0 | 1 | |
1 | 0 | 1 | |
1 | 0 | 1 | |
1 | 1 | 1 |
Opposition scout – Man City
After Wednesday night's action at the Etihad Stadium, eight Manchester City players have played more than 3,000 minutes in all competitions this season. Only four from Chelsea’s squad have reached that figure.
Guardiola stated Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji all asked to be taken off during the gruelling 120 minutes against Real Madrid but the City head coach will not struggle for quality replacements if that trio cannot start.
Julian Alvarez, John Stones, former Blue Nathan Ake, and goalkeeper Stefan Ortega – an ever-present in this season's FA Cup – are all options to step up.
A ploy Guardiola has used with success – including in our league draws – this season is to attack lopsidedly, switching key players to the same flank to create overloads.
However, the Catalan will be concerned his team is on course to concede more goals in all competitions this season (currently 50) than any since his arrival in 2016/17 (60). And the most breaches in one hit came at the hands of Chelsea in that seesaw 4-4 at the Bridge.
Road to the semi-final
Round Three | Chelsea 4-0 Preston | Man City 5-0 Huddersfield |
Round Four | Chelsea 0-0 Aston Villa | Tottenham 0-1 Man City |
Round Five | Chelsea 3-2 Leeds United | Luton Town 2-6 Man City |
Quarter-finals | Chelsea 4-2 Leicester City | Man City 2-0 Newcastle United |
Cup matches at the new Wembley
29 – Chelsea
25 – Man City
22 – Manchester United
16 – Arsenal
11 – Liverpool
8 – Tottenham
FA Cup semi-final regulations
The VAR system is in operation, five substitutions are permitted (plus a sixth should additional time be required), and both semi-final ties will be decided on the day.
Should the scores be level after second-half stoppage time, 30 minutes of extra time will be played. If the two teams still can't be separated, a winner will be decided via a penalty shootout.
The FA Cup final will take place at Wembley on Saturday 25 May and the winner will be rewarded with a place in the new league stage of a revamped Europa League.
Our FA Cup semi-final history
This is Chelsea’s 27th appearance in the last four of the FA Cup, the third most after Manchester United (now 32) and Arsenal (30). We have reached the final on 16 occasions, again a total only bettered by United and Arsenal (both 21).
Notedly, the Blues played in consecutive semi-finals on either side of World War One. The first in 1915 when we became London’s first Football League side to contest the FA Cup final and again in 1920.
Today's fixture will also be the Blues’ twelfth semi-final at the national stadium and tenth at the new Wembley – where we have prevailed on every occasion except one.
That loss, though, was against this weekend’s opponents, Manchester City, in 2013. The Blues started that game lethargically and were 2-0 down before sparking into life with half an hour to go.
Demba Ba volleyed past Costel Pantilimon to raise hope but, in pre-VAR days, Vincent Kompany’s shirt-pull on Fernando Torres did not lead to a penalty.
We made amends with a last-four victory against the Citizens behind closed doors in 2021; birthday boy Hakim Ziyech’s side-footer ending the Citizens’ quadruple hopes.
A month later, we beat Pep Guardiola’s team by the same scoreline in an even bigger match: the Champions League final.
Cole, hard facts
Cole Palmer will face former club Manchester City for the third time today – and just days after going level with Haaland at the top of the Premier League scoring chats with 20 goals.
The 21-year-old's four-goal haul against Everton was our first in the top flight since Frank Lampard achieved the feat in a 7-1 thrashing of Aston Villa in 2010.
He also emulated Drogba in scoring hat-tricks in back-to-back league matches at Stamford Bridge.
Remarkably, the Wythenshawe wonder is also the first player in our 119-year history to net top-flight hat-tricks in two matches in the same calendar month.
Multiple Premier League hat-tricks at Stamford Bridge
3 – Didier Drogba, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
2 – Frank Lampard, Eden Hazard, Cole Palmer