Football Bet of the Day: Cityzens to secure their place in a successive FA Cup final

The first of this year's FA Cup semi-finals inside the iconic Wembley Stadium sees reigning champions Manchester City face Chelsea on Saturday, April 20 with a kick-off time of 17:15. 

With the Cityzens denied a chance of securing a record-breaking back-to-back treble, thanks to their Champions League exit in midweek, they will be looking for an instant response against the Blues this weekend. Our football bet of the day comes from this FA Cup clash, which is weighted in the favour of Pep Guardiola's side.

Before the loss to Real Madrid, you fancied Guardiola's men to secure a second treble in as many years, but that dream has been ripped from their grasp, but they still have a shot at two other major titles this year.

They hold the advantage in the Premier League title race by two points, following slip-ups by both Arsenal and Liverpool at the weekend. And it is usually this stage of the season where we see this team at their absolute best, with the players fighting as though their lives depend on it.

As they gear up for another trip to Wembley for an FA Cup semi-final, they will be feeling confident ahead of facing Chelsea, given their recent run of three straight wins in the top-flight.

Luckily for Guardiola he has goalscorers throughout his squad, which is always helpful in an eliminator contest. For while he has the usual suspects of Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne finding the back of the net, some of the obscure players have been showing their quality in front of goal this season with Josko Gvardiol and Rico Lewis both having scored recently.

Then there is midfield general Rodri, who not only has scored against the Blues already this season, but has notched eight goals across all competitions. Chelsea have a lot to be concerned about ahead of the semi-final, but they have a secret weapon of their own, and one that will be very familiar to those of a sky blue persuasion.

Cole Palmer, Man City academy graduate, did the hard but respectable thing in the summer to leave the club in search of regular first-team football. Chelsea offered him that, along with £40m for City, and the young Englishman has not looked back.

He has been one of, if not the signing of the season in the Premier League. For all of Chelsea's woes, he's been a bright spark and on Monday he netted his second career hat-trick as he scored four past Everton.

Palmer is now the leading marksman in the Premier League with 20 goals to his name and he will be the player that his old team mates will need to be most concerned about in the capital. He's already scored against his former employers this term so he knows what that feeling is like. So there is a very good chance we can see him come back to haunt them once again.

However, City do boast a stronger squad than Chelsea man-to-man, which is why we fancy them to progress to another FA Cup final. But that does not mean we're expecting this FA Cup victory to be as routine as when they beat Chelsea 4-0 in the third round last season, we think this one will be much more competitive - evidenced by the 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium back in February in the top-flight.

Man City's quality should shine through in such a high-pressure match, though, and we believe that they will progress to the final inside 90 minutes but that there will be goals at both ends of the pitch.

You can read all our latest Football Bets of the Day at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.