Chelsea vs Manchester City Prediction: Pep to reign at Wembley again

The FA Cup final. Saturday’s showpiece event comes from Wembley at 3pm, with the game live on BBC One. It pits a misfiring Chelsea side up against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, with both of these sides regulars in the final.

In fact, there hasn’t been an FA Cup final without either Manchester City or Chelsea in it since 2016. Remarkable. Below you can find my Chelsea vs Manchester City predictions featuring betting tips and more. 

Team News

Chelsea remain without Estevao and Jamie Gittens, but Pedro Neto could return from his absence. Benoit Badiashile has been out with an illness for some time and is unlikely to feature for Calum McFarlane. Robert Sanchez should return from his concussion. 

We can expect Reece James to return to the side, potentially at right-back or in midfield to partner Moises Caicedo. Romeo Lavia also remains in contention but didn’t feature against Liverpool, while Marc Cucurella playing in front of Jorrel Hato may give some indication of how Chelsea’s left side will line up.

Guardiola saw his side hammer Crystal Palace 3-0 on Wednesday night to keep their title hopes alive. Erling Haaland and Nico O’Reilly were rested for that one but will both start here, with Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku also likely to come into the XI. 

Phil Foden put in a fantastic display and will want to keep his place potentially in a deeper role, while James Trafford has been the cup goalkeeper so far and should come back into the team. 

Chelsea vs Manchester City Odds

Cheslea are the 18/5 underdogs to win this final but Manchester City are 7/10 to get the job done in normal time. That gives them an implied win probability of 59%, a draw is 3/1, over 2.5 goals is 8/11 and BTTS is the same price. 

For goalscorers, obviously Erling Haaland leads the market at 12/5 to score first and 7/10 to score anytime. 

Man City to win in 90 mins @ 7/10

Unfortunately for a neutral like myself, this looks to be a one-sided FA Cup final. Chelsea have been in dire form and sacking Liam Rosenior hasn’t helped anything - with just two wins in their last 11 games (both coming in this competition). 

One of those was against Port Vale for context, and while they got past Leeds United in the semi, Daniel Farke’s men were underwhelming. Compare that with the trophy-winning machine that is Manchester City - a side who have won eight of their last nine games and are looking to push Arsenal all the way to the line in the league.

They’ve already won the Carabao Cup this term, and I think they will hammer Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday. 

Bet Builder - Man City win, 3+ goals, Jeremy Doku to score anytime @ 13/2

Man City will win this final, I’m fairly confident of that, but let’s look elsewhere to try and boost our odds with a Bet Builder. There have been three or more goals in two of the last three FA Cup finals, and I just don’t think this will be particularly cagey, given the difference in quality between the two sides. 

I can see Guardiola’s men scoring three under the arch, while Doku looks like a great shout to bag one of them. He didn’t start vs Palace, but has still scored three goals in his last three league appearances - stepping up to the plate at a crucial time in the season. He should be able to find the net at Wembley. 

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