The stage is set for one the of the biggest games; all roads lead to Wembley for FA Cup Final. Two major football clubs in England are playing a match at the national stadium.  

On a schedule the event appears significant for the sport and the match is important but when observers analyze the details, they find that the two organizations are in different situations. One club is trying to win multiple trophies and might finish a period of success. The other club is attempting to achieve a positive result because most of the current year was unsuccessful. 

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Chelsea: A Season To Forget, But Not To Be Forgotten Where do you even begin with Chelsea this season? Huge hope on what Enzo Maresca could conjure up, he arrived with ambition and spent real money. It didn’t work. He was fired. Liam Rosenior was then brought on but he too could not last. Under-21 coach Calum McFarlane will be in the Chelsea dugout at Wembley for the biggest game of the season. McFarlane essentially was given the keys and told to figure it out. I mean, he hasn’t been a complete disaster. He was given his first real test in January with the senior squad on a trip to the Etihad, where Chelsea drew 1-1 despite having more chances. The team achieved two positive outcomes – but their performance in the league during the same period is consistent with a low standard of play. They experienced six consecutive defeats in the Premier League and this sequence concluded only when they played to a draw against Liverpool last week. They are currently in ninth position in the league rankings, which is a significant distance from the positions required for European qualification. 

To win the FA Cup final is the primary objective for Chelsea at this stage of the year. If they win the match, they secure a place in the Europa League and add a trophy to their collection. By winning they also establish a foundation for future progress. On the contrary a loss ensures that people categorize this period as a time when the team performed at its lowest level in multiple decades.  

There is an additional difficult fact to consider chelsea are unable to secure a victory against Manchester City in a competitive fixture  this situation is the status quo since the 2021 Champions League final. For five years and across thirteen matches, Manchester City are undefeated in this rivalry. When Manchester City last lost to Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel was the manager and the match occurred in Porto. Much is different since that time and the majority of those developments are not beneficial to Chelsea. 

Manchester City: One trophy down, one to go. City arrive at this final as the in-form team, the experienced team, and the team with the superior players. That is a fact. They won the Carabao Cup this season by beating Arsenal at Wembley in March, and will become domestic cup double winners if they can win on Saturday, a feat achieved by only a few clubs in the history of English football. There have been indications that after ten years in Manchester, Guardiola might be looking for a new challenge, but going out with two trophies and potentially the Premier League title would be a fitting farewell to a club he has made so great. Their form heading in is exactly what you would expect from a well-drilled Guardiola side: four wins from five games, and two 3-0 wins over Brentford and Crystal Palace. They dispatched Southampton. They are playing with conviction and clarity. Guardiola was clever to rotate his squad against Palace in midweek, resting Haaland, Cherki, Doku and Reijnders, meaning the first-choice XI arrive at Wembley fresh and raring to go. 

The only fitness concern is Rodri, who has been struggling with a groin problem. Guardiola confirmed ahead of the final that he’s available for selection and that’s huge. “City are a different team with Rodri in it. He sets the tempo, he wins the ball, he takes the pressure off everyone else around him.