FA Cup Final: Chelsea vs Manchester City Prediction and Betting Tips: Blue On Blue Violence At Wembley In Battle For FA Cup

The 2025/26 season has reached its endgame, and the next two weeks will give us the remaining champions in each competition. 

This weekend is for the FA Cup winners, one of Chelsea or Manchester City.

Chelsea reached the FA Cup final after clinching a hard-fought 1-0 win over Leeds United in the semi-finals. 

Before that, the West London club had cruised to the penultimate stage, easing past Charlton Athletic, Hull City, and Port Vale while also beating a spirited Wrexham side. 

However, the Blues have been dreadful otherwise, and they come into Saturday’s clash on the back of a seven-match winless run in the Premier League.

On the other hand, Manchester United qualified for the FA Cup final after leaving it late to beat Southampton. 

That was the only closely-contested affair for Pep Guardiola’s men in the competition, as they barely broke a sweat in their wins over Exeter City, Salford City, Newcastle United, and even Liverpool. 

The odds are massively stacked against Chelsea, who have failed to beat Manchester City in their last 13 meetings (L10 D3) since their narrow 1-0 win in the 2021 UCL final. 

This poor streak includes a 1-0 FA Cup semifinal loss in April 2024, while they most recently fell to a 3-0 Premier League defeat at Stamford Bridge just over a month ago.

*Odds sourced from SportyBet and are correct at the time of publishing. Always gamble responsibly.

Manchester City head into this final as clear favourites and we’re backing Pep Guardiola’s side to add another trophy to their collection.

Chelsea’s season has unravelled badly despite their run to Wembley.

Prior to last week’s draw with Liverpool, the Blues had lost six consecutive Premier League matches while scoring just one goal. 

That miserable run also included a heavy 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester City back in April.

City, meanwhile, have won eight of their last nine matches in all competitions and already lifted the Carabao Cup earlier this season.

The historical record also strongly favours Guardiola’s side, with Chelsea failing to beat Manchester City since the 2021 Champions League final.

Given the form, momentum and quality gap between the two sides, we are backing City to lift the FA Cup.

Recent meetings and current form suggest Wembley could see plenty of goals on Saturday afternoon.

Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Chelsea in April comfortably cleared this line, and the wider history between these two sides also points towards goals.

A total of 28 goals have been scored across the last ten meetings between Chelsea and City, averaging 2.8 goals per match.

City’s recent fixtures have been particularly entertaining, with an average of 3.2 goals scored across their last five matches in all competitions. Chelsea’s recent league matches have also produced goals, averaging 2.6 goals per game across their last five outings.

All signs point towards another high-scoring encounter at Wembley.

Jeremy Doku is in excellent form. 

The Belgian international has been highly productive in front of goal, scoring four goals in his last four appearances.

Doku has recorded seven goal contributions in as many games, improving his performances significantly since the March international break.

The betting markets don’t appear to have factored in Doku’s strong short-term form. They indicate there’s only a 26.67% chance of Doku scoring during Saturday’s cup final, at odds of 4.50.

That’s despite him recording a 71.43% strike rate since early April.

This could be the biggest value bet of the FA Cup Final, with Doku and Semenyo sure to provide the width on either side of Haaland.

Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Hato; James, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez, Cucurella; Pedro

Trafford; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Gonzalez, Bernardo; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland

Chelsea trio Estevao Willian (knee), Jamie Gittens (hamstring) and Jesse Derry (head) all remain sidelined with injuries.

However, McFarlane has confirmed that Robert Sanchez (head), Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho (both muscle) have all trained this week and could be involved on Saturday.

Captain Reece James, however, has recovered from a hamstring injury to potentially lead the side out at Wembley.

He could start either at right-back at the expense of Malo Gusto or in a deep-lying midfield role alongside Moises Caicedo, with Andrey Santos making way.

City’s only injury concern is with key midfielder Rodri, who has missed the last five matches with a groin issue and remains a doubt.

Nico Gonzalez was left out of the squad that beat Crystal Palace in midweek, but he is “fine” to play on Saturday. He scored the semi-final winner for City and could be chosen to start alongside captain Bernardo Silva if Rodri is not ready to return.

Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki were all benched against Palace, while Nico O’Reilly was absent from the matchday squad. However, all four players are expected to start against Chelsea. 

O’Reilly scored both of City’s goals in the EFL Cup final win over Arsenal and is set to return at left-back at the expense of Josko Gvardiol, who is now fit and available after four months out injured.

Haaland has remarkably never scored across 15 semi-final or final appearances since joining the Citizens in 2022.