Prediction & odds for the game: Chelsea (15/4) v Manchester City (4/5) – ST is backing the away win

When: Saturday, 17th April @ 5.30pm K.O

Where: Wembley Stadium

Chelsea will battle Manchester City at Wembley this weekend in the first of two enticing FA Cup semi-finals at the home of English football.

Chelsea

Chelsea are battling for a place in the top four, for a place in the Champions League final and also for a place in the FA Cup final. When Frank Lampard was replaced by Thomas Tuchel we don’t think many fans would’ve seen that coming, but such is the unpredictable nature of elite level football. The Blues are in a strong position and, in many ways, could see this as one of two potentially huge games against Manchester City with there being a chance they could meet in the UCL final too.

Chelsea looked strong in parts against Porto during the week as they attempted to protect their two-goal lead and while they did wind up losing 1-0 on the night, progressing to the semis was all that really mattered. They may have a few bruised bodies, though, which leads us to believe we could see some rotation for this one.

Manchester City

Manchester City are having to shift from one important game to another right now and that’ll continue for the remainder of the season. There are so many different spinning plates for Pep Guardiola to manage and while it’s entirely possible they’ll come out of this campaign as quadruple winners, it’s just as likely that the Premier League is the only trophy they lift. Either way, they can’t allow themselves to get in their own heads too much during this huge semi-final on Saturday.

City will have some tired legs in their squad after the second leg against Borussia Dortmund this week and that much is obvious. They went 1-0 down and were staring down the barrel of an exit from the competition, only for two second half goals to completely turn the tie on its head.

Conclusion

We think this is going to be a really competitive game with Thomas Tuchel knowing how huge it would be for Chelsea’s season if they can beat Manchester City. We actually believe they’ll be the ones to take the lead in this game, but eventually, City’s strength and undeniable excellence on the ball is going to guide them to victory. It may not be the prettiest of wins from Pep’s point of view but in reality, just getting into the final is enough of a positive.

Our official scoreline prediction is going to be 2-1 Manchester City, ensuring we hit the over 2.5 goals bracket.

Verdict: Back the away win at odds of 4/5 and the over 2.5 goals scored at odds of 1/1 (All odds are taken from bet365).

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If you want to bet on Chelsea vs Manchester City then head on over to the betting page. Alternatively, you can check out some of the other available fixtures on the soccer predictions page as we approach the end of this season’s FA Cup.