Chelsea will take on Manchester City in the 2026 FA Cup final this Saturday at Wembley Stadium. This marks City's fourth consecutive appearance in the FA Cup final, but they have some records to set right after losing their last two finals — against Manchester United in 2024 and Crystal Palace in 2025.
This is City's third trip to Wembley this season, and they have won both previous games at the national stadium, beating Arsenal 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final and registering a come-from-behind 2-1 win in the FA Cup semifinal against Southampton a few weeks ago.
For Chelsea, this game will determine whether their season has been an unqualified failure or if there is some hint of light at the end of what has been a long period of darkness. Their wretched Premier League form has seen them pick up just one point in their last seven league games, with that solitary point coming in an impressive performance for a 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield last weekend.
Team News and Injuries
Manchester City will go into this Saturday's FA Cup Final without the services of some key players, including Josko Gvardiol and Rodri. Abdukodir Khusanov is doubtful. For Chelsea, the duo of Estevao Willian and Jamie Gittens are out, just as Robert Sanchez, Alejandro Garnacho, and Pedro Neto are doubtful.
Chelsea haven't won any of their last seven Premier League games. In that span, their only wins have come against Port Vale and Leeds United in the last two rounds of the FA Cup. City, on the other hand, have been excellent in the last few weeks, barring the slip up at Goodison Park that looks like it could have cost them the Premier League title, even as they hope for a favor from either Burnley or Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
Can Chelsea Find Cheer at the End of a Disappointing Season?
Mathematically, Chelsea are still in the running to qualify for European competition from the Premier League. However, they need a multitude of other results to go their way to make it to either the Europa League or the Conference League. So the FA Cup final is Chelsea's clearest route to the Europa League. It won't be easy, particularly not in the form they are in. However, they will take confidence from the way they played at Anfield and the returns from injury of both Levi Colwill and Reece James will be a further boost to Chelsea.
After putting out a much-changed team against Palace, Guardiola will revert to all his regulars for this final against Chelsea. That means Haaland, Doku, Cherki, and others will all return to the side. Rodri could return from injury too, but even if he is ruled out, his understudy Nico Gonzalez was rested from the start against Palace as well.
For Chelsea to defeat this City side, they will have to deal with the full brunt of City's attack, especially the well-rested Doku and Haaland, who have been among the goals regularly in recent games. City could not have placed themselves in a better situation heading into this final.
Perhaps the headline result across Calum McFarlane's two spells in charge of Chelsea this season was the 1-1 draw against City in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium in January, when Enzo Fernandez scored in second-half stoppage time to deny City all three points. McFarlane found a system that worked for Chelsea against Liverpool last weekend, despite them not having any of their wingers in the squad available. Marc Cucurella was a difference-maker in an advanced role down the left, while Moises Caicedo was excellent in midfield. With none of their wingers likely to return before the final, it wouldn't be a surprise if McFarlane employs a similar system in this final as he heads into the biggest day of his career.
Key Statistics
- Manchester City are the first team to play in four consecutive FA Cup Finals.
- This is Chelsea's 17th FA Cup final, the third most after Manchester United (22) and Arsenal (21).
- Manchester City haven't lost any of their last 13 games against Chelsea in all competitions, their longest unbeaten run against the Blues.
- Manchester City have won 21 of their last 23 matches in the FA Cup.
- Chelsea have scored 21 goals in the FA Cup this season, their joint-most in a single FA Cup season, alongside 2006-07.
