TEAM NEWS
Eight changes as City bid for FA Cup final spot
Pep Guardiola has shuffled his pack and brought in fresh legs for our FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea.
Only Kevin De Bruyne, Rodrigo and Ruben Dias remain from the side that beat Borussia Dortmund in midweek.
Returning to the starting XI are Zack Steffen, Joao Cancelo, Fernandinho, Benjamin Mendy, Aymeric Laporte, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Ferran Torres.
Starting XI and bench
Steffen, Cancelo, Mendy, Dias, Laporte, Fernandinho (c), Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Sterling, Torres, Jesus
Subs: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Ake, Gundogan, Zinchenko, Bernardo, Mahrez, Foden
When and where
City will hope to book our ticket for the FA Cup final in Saturday 17 April’s 17:30 (UK) kick-off at Wembley Stadium.
The match is available to watch live on BBC One and the BBC iPlayer in the UK, while viewers hoping to tune in from abroad can find all the information they need at the foot of this page.
Next Fixture
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We’re Not Really Here
Shaun Goater and Richard Dunne will join host Natalie Pike in the WNRH studios to provide coverage with a City twist across all of our digital platforms - and Shaun Wright-Phillips will report directly from Wembley.
The show gets underway at 16:30 (UK), one hour before kick-off, where Goater and Dunne will provide expert insight and preview our Wembley clash.
They will then reconvene for a quick half-time debrief, followed by some extensive post-match thoughts, including their reaction to Pep Guardiola’s full-time assessment.
We’re Not Really Here always welcomes viewer interaction so if you want to get involved use #WNRH on Twitter to have your say.
Team News
Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Sergio Aguero is still sidelined with injury but that the rest of the squad are fully fit and available for selection.
On Aguero’s availability, Guadiola said: “No not, yet.”
“Yeah, (everyone else) are OK. Tired, but in a good mood. They are OK.
“Imagine playing this game after not qualifying for the Champion League semis, it would be much tougher.
“I would love to have more days to recover and prepare, but the schedule is the schedule. You handle the schedule. No complaints at all.
“Tomorrow we will face one of the best teams in Europe. Try to do a good game and reach the final.”
Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic is out with a hamstring strain, and Andreas Christensen misses out due to a muscle injury.
Form Guide
City head into our FA Cup clash off the back of an impressive run of form, which includes just two defeats in our past 37 matches in all competitions.
Guardiola’s men also come into Saturday’s showdown having won 16 matches in succession on the road, but know they will need to reach those heights once again to book our place in the final.
Chelsea have won 12 of their last 18 matches since Thomas Tuchel’s appointment in January and remain unbeaten away from Stamford Bridge under the German’s watchful eye.
They will also come into the game with renewed confidence after reaching the Champions League semi-finals, despite a second leg defeat to Porto.
Chelsea Form (all competitions): WWLWWL
Latest: Chelsea 0-1 Porto (2-1 agg)
Where they stand: 5th in the Premier League, FA Cup semi-final, Champions League semi-final
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Last time out
City put last week’s surprise defeat to Leeds United behind them at the first opportunity, securing our place in the Champions League semi-finals with victory over Borussia Dortmund.
Jude Bellingham gave Dortmund the lead with an impressive curling finish before the 15-minute mark which would have seen the hosts through to the last four by virtue of away goals.
But City rallied and were rewarded for a relentless display when Riyad Mahrez ruthlessly dispatched from the spot after Emre Can had handled in the area after 54 minutes.
Phil Foden then added further gloss to the scoreline 20 minutes later with a ferocious low drive sneaking inside Marwin Hitz’s near-post to secure a 4-2 aggregate victory.
Match stats
- Chelsea have lost four of their last five FA Cup ties against Manchester City, including a 2-1 loss at this stage in 2013. However, they did win their most recent such encounter 5-1 in February 2016.
- Manchester City have won six of their last nine meetings with Chelsea in all competitions (D1 L2), beating the Blues 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League already this season.
- Manchester City have lost none of their three meetings with Chelsea at the new Wembley Stadium, beating them 2-1 in the 2013 FA Cup semi-final, 2-0 in the 2018 Community Shield, and on penalties in the 2019 League Cup final.
- Chelsea are looking to reach the FA Cup final for a 15th time, with only Arsenal (21) and Manchester United (20) reaching it more often than the Blues. Chelsea have won seven of their last eight semi-final ties, losing only against Man City in 2013 in this run.
- Manchester City have won nine of their last 11 FA Cup semi-final matches, though they have been eliminated at this stage in two of their four previous campaigns under Pep Guardiola (vs Arsenal in both 2017 and 2020).
- Chelsea are looking to reach the FA Cup final for the fourth time in the last five seasons, failing only in 2018-19 in this run. Thomas Tuchel would be the first ever German manager to reach the English FA Cup final.
- Man City boss Pep Guardiola is unbeaten in all five of his managerial meetings with Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel (W3 D2), with all of these coming between 2013 and 2016 when the Spaniard was in charge of Bayern Munich.
- Sergio Agüero has scored six goals in his 10 appearances at Wembley Stadium for Manchester City. His six goals are more than any other Man City player has netted at the ground.
- No player has scored more goals in the 2020-21 FA Cup tournament (excl. qualifiers) than Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham (4).
- Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne has been involved in nine goals in his last eight FA Cup matches, scoring four and assisting five.
Match officials
Referee: Michael Dean
Assistant referees: Ian Hussin & Daniel Robathan
Fourth official: Andre Marriner
Reserve assistant: Constantine Hatzidakis
VAR: Peter Bankes
AVAR: Stephen Child
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