City chase double, Chelsea seek salvation in Wembley showdown

All eyes will be on the Wembley Stadium today as Manchester City take on Chelsea in the FA Cup final.

City temporarily switch focus from the Premier League title race as they chase a second major domestic cup double. Having already beaten Arsenal in the EFL Cup final, Pep Guardiola’s side could become only the sixth team to win both major English cup competitions in the same season, following Arsenal (1992-93), Liverpool (2000-01, 2021-22), Chelsea (2006-07) and City themselves in 2018-19.

Chelsea, meanwhile, arrive at Wembley desperate for redemption. A campaign that began with FIFA Club World Cup glory has spiralled into poor form, managerial upheaval and fan protests, leaving the FA Cup as their final chance to salvage the season and win a first domestic trophy in eight years.

The Blues head into the final in dreadful form, having won just two of their last 11 competitive matches -- both FA Cup victories over Port Vale and Leeds United. No team has entered an FA Cup final with as few wins from their previous 11 games since Newcastle United in 1998-99, when they lost 2-0 to Manchester United.

Since March, no club in Europe’s top five leagues has lost more matches in all competitions than Chelsea (9). 

Chelsea’s recent record in domestic finals offers little encouragement either. They have failed to score in each of their last four FA Cup and League Cup finals, becoming the only team to go four straight finals across those competitions without a goal. Since Christian Pulisic scored against Arsenal in the 2020 FA Cup final, Chelsea have managed 60 shots in domestic cup finals without finding the net.

Still, City also have a strange final-day drought of their own. Despite scoring 161 goals for the club, Erling Haaland has never scored in a cup final. Including the Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup, he has failed to score in nine finals despite attempting 15 shots. The Norwegian has also never scored in eight appearances at Wembley.

Chelsea will hope that City's hectic schedule which sees them go to Bournemouth next Tuesday probably needing a win to stay in the title race will be to their advantage.

"Chelsea are at home preparing the final. We have to travel to London, and they will be at home," Guardiola said after the Palace win, City's eighth in their last nine since bowing out of the Champions League to Real Madrid in March.

Here are a few highlights to looks at ahead of the contest:

**City are the first team to reach four consecutive FA Cup finals, though they lost the previous two -- against Manchester United and Crystal Palace.  

**Chelsea are winless in 13 matches against City since beating them in the 2020-21 Champions League final -- their longest such run against an opponent since a 17-game streak against Arsenal between 1999 and 2004. 

**A City victory would draw them level with Chelsea on eight FA Cup titles, behind only Arsenal (14) and Manchester United (13). 

**Chelsea lost their last three FA Cup finals between 2020 and 2022 against Leicester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. 

**City have won 16 domestic cups overall, with 44 percent of them coming under Pep Guardiola, who has lifted the League Cup five times and the FA Cup twice. 

**Since Guardiola’s arrival in 2016-17, City lead all clubs for games, wins, goals and clean sheets across the FA Cup and League Cup, with Chelsea second in each category. 

**Guardiola has won 45 of his 53 FA Cup matches, giving him an 85 percent win rate -- the best of any manager to oversee at least 10 games in the competition’s history.