Familiar faces renew acquaintance when Manchester City face Chelsea in a salivating FA Cup semifinal encounter at Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Cole Palmer’s career has taken off like a bullet train since swapping Etihad Stadium for west London for £42m, with his division leading 20 Premier League goals the same tally to date as Cityzens danger man Erling Braut Haaland.
While the Norwegian is the more celebrated striker on account of his 52 goals in City’s march to last season’s treble of EPL, Champions League and FA Cup triumphs, it’s Palmer who has tongues wagging courtesy of a rich vein of form that’s yielded two consecutive hat tricks against Manchester United and Everton at Stamford Bridge.
Cityzens manager Pep Guardiola is under pressure to restore Haaland and assists king Kevin de Bruyne to the starting line up despite pulling both off due to tiredness during extra time of his side’s Uefa Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid. Former Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic, who came on for de Bruyne but missed his spot kick in the shootout, is on standby to fill in if the Belgian fails to recuperate from fatigue on time.
Chelsea are enduring an underwhelming season under Mauricio Pochettino and are the bookmakers overwhelming underdogs ahead of the FA Cup showdown but they travel to Wembley enamored by the fact they held City to two Premier League draws, with the 4-4 stalemate at Stamford Bridge one of the games of the season.
After missing Chelsea’s 6-0 win over Everton altogether, striker Raheem Sterling, a £50m signing from City in 2022, is in line to once again duel City right back Kyle Walker after running him ragged in the 1-1 draw at Etihad Stadium. It’s one of the match ups to watch along with Haaland’s physical confrontation with Axel Disasi and Jeremy Doku’s face off with Malo Gusto.
Manchester United will use Sunday’s face off with Championship outfit Coventry City as a platform to try to salvage the season for manager Erik Ten Hag whose Old Trafford tenure has come under microscopic scrutiny ever since Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought a 25 percent stake in the club. Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford will all be keen to make their mark against a team ranked 25 places below United in England’s football pyramid.
City’s cup engagement implies Arsenal can move above them in the standings if they successfully negotiate the potential banana skin that is Gary O’Neill’s Wolves in manager Mikel Arteta’s first game since the Gunners were eliminated by Bayern Munich from the Champions League. Arsenal scouts are to use the game to have a detailed look at Wolves winger Pedro Neto, a potential summer transfer target.
Liverpool will come out with all guns blazing in Sunday’s trip to Craven Cottage to face Marco Silva’s Fulham after Jurgen Klopp’s Reds tumbled out of the Europa League 1-3 on aggregate despite beating Atalanta of Bergamo 1-0 on the night. Diogo Jota is in line to make his first start in two months.
FA Cup
SATURDAY
Manchester City v Chelsea
SUNDAY
Coventry City v Manchester United
PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY
Luton Town v Brentford,
Sheffield United v Burnley,
Wolves v Arsenal
SUNDAY
Everton v Nottingham Forest,
Aston Villa v Bournemouth,
Crystal Palace v West Ham United,
Fulham v Liverpool
TUESDAY
Arsenal v Chelsea,
WEDNESDAY
Wolves v Bournemouth,
Manchester United v Sheffield United,
Crystal Palace v Newcastle United,
Everton v Liverpool
THURSDAY
Brighton v Manchester City