This weekend, the Emirates FA Cup Final will take place at Wembley Stadium and it will be two familiar names that go head to head in the biggest domestic knockout cup in football.
Chelsea will take on Liverpool in a repeat of this year’s Carabao Cup Final, which Liverpool won 11-10 on penalties after a 0-0 draw. It is also a repeat of the 2012 FA Cup Final between the two teams where goals from Ramires and Didier Drogba gave Chelsea the cup after a 2-1 win over the Reds, whose reply was scored by Andy Carroll.
Over the years, Chelsea have tended to get the better of Liverpool in domestic cup competitions but in recent times, it has been Liverpool that have come out on top in these games. Recent history also suggests this one should be close after the two teams drew twice in the Premier League this season, as well as their goalless draw at Wembley.
FA Cup Final Saturday may not be the finale to the season that it once was, when it was traditionally played after the final league games of the season, but it is still a hugely important trophy to win and of course, interest in the game will be huge with fans and of course, with bettors.
So you can expect bet365 Sport to come up with plenty of great value odds across the hundreds of markets available for the game and you will of course be able to enjoy In Play betting alongside the wide choice of pre-game markets available.
Let’s now take a closer look at both the teams set to compete in Saturday’s showpiece game.
FA Cup Final Preview
Liverpool
This is Jurgen Klopp’s first experience of an FA Cup Final, with his Liverpool team not getting past the semi-finals in previous years. The German landed his first domestic cup trophy with Liverpool in the Carabao Cup earlier this season, when beating Chelsea 11-10 on penalties in the Carabao Cup and he could complete the set with victory here.
The Reds have not won this trophy since 2006, when they defeated West Ham on penalties after an exciting 3-3 draw at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. In their only finals appearance since, the Reds lost 2-1 to Chelsea in 2012.
Liverpool are still chasing additional trophies on three fronts at the time of writing, and they not only face an exciting Premier League run in, but also a Champions League Final against Real Madrid in Paris at the end of the month. So the games will be coming thick and fast for the Reds.
They began their road to Wembley against Shrewsbury back in January.
Liverpool’s Path To Wembley
- 3rd Round – v Shrewsbury Town (H) W 4-1 (Gordon 34, Fabinho 44(p),90, Firmino 78)
- 4th Round – v Cardiff City (H) W 3-1 (Jota 53, Minamino 68, Elliott 76)
- 5th Round – v Norwich City (H) W 2-1 (Minamino 27,39)
- Quarter Final – v Nottingham Forest (A) W 1-0 (Jota 78)
- Semi Final – v Manchester City (N) W 3-2 (Konate 9, Mane 17,45)
Liverpool’s FA Cup History
The Reds have won the trophy on 7 occasions and finished as a runner up on 7 further occasions.
Including this year’s final, that makes 15 finals appearances for Liverpool, the fourth best record in the competition’s long history (behind Arsenal (21), Man Utd (20) and Chelsea (16))
Liverpool have beaten Leeds (1965), Newcastle United (1974), Everton (1986 & 1989), Sunderland (1992), Arsenal (2001) and West Ham (2006) in the FA Cup Final
The Reds have lost to Burnley (1914), Arsenal (1950, 1971), Manchester United (1977, 1996), Wimbledon (1988) and Chelsea (2012) in FA Cup Finals.
With 44 Domestic and European Trophies, Liverpool are the most successful team in English football history. (19 league titles, 7 FA Cup, 9 League Cup, 6 Champions League, 3 Europa League)
Liverpool Team News
Jurgen Klopp will hope his players come through the game with Aston Villa in midweek with a win and without any injury concerns, although Andy Robertson was taken off at the weekend during the draw with Spurs at Anfield.
Against Manchester City in the semifinal, Klopp went with what many feel is his strongest team for that game and I can see him doing likewise here against a Chelsea side that Liverpool have not beaten inside 90 minutes in the last four games.
Liverpool Possible XI – (4-3-3) – Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Van Dijk, Konate, Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago, Dias, Mane, Salah.
Chelsea
Chelsea come into this final having reached the final for the third year in succession, however they have lost the two previous finals to Arsenal and then Leicester last year and if they were to lose this final, that would set a new record for FA Cup Finals lost on consecutive seasons.
In fact, Chelsea have won just once in their last six finals at Wembley Stadium, so it has not been a happy hunting ground for them in recent times, despite their excellent recent success in this competition.
The Londoners last won the final in 2018, when they beat Manchester United 1-0 thanks to an Eden Hazard penalty. They have reached the final in five of the last six seasons, only missing out in 2019.
Chelsea made a great start to the season but their form since the New Year has tailed off and they are now embroiled in a battle with Arsenal and Tottenham for the third and fourth places in the Premier League table, some way behind Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the table.
The Londoners kicked off their FA Cup campaign in January against Chesterfield.
Chelsea’s Path To Wembley
- 3rd Round – v Chesterfield (H) – W 5-1 (Werner 6, Hudson-Odoi 18, Lukaku 20, Christensen 39, Ziyech 55)
- 4th Round – v Plymouth Argyle (H) – W 2-1 AET (Azpilicueta 41, Alonso 105)
- 5th Round – v Luton Town (A) – W 3-2 (Saul 27, Werner 68, Lukaku 78)
- Quarter Finals – v Middlesbrough (A) – W 2-0 (Lukaku 15, Ziyech 31)
- Semi Finals – v Crystal Palace (N) – W 2-0 (Loftus-Cheek 65, Mount 76)
Chelsea’s FA Cup History
With eight FA Cup Final wins and 15 finals appearances, Chelsea are the third most successful team in the competition’s history with their 8 wins behind Arsenal (14) and Manchester United (12).
Chelsea have reached the FA Cup Final in four of the last five years, winning it once, losing it three times.
Chelsea have beaten Leeds United (1970), Middlesbrough (1997), Aston Villa (2000), Manchester United (2007, 2018), Everton (2009), Portsmouth (2010), Liverpool (2012) in the FA Cup Final.
The Londoners have lost to Sheffield United (1915), Tottenham Hotspur (1967), Manchester United (1994), Arsenal (2002, 2017, 2020) and Leicester City (2021) in the final.
Chelsea Team News
Thomas Tuchel will be without the long-term injured Ben Chilwell for this game, but barring that the Londoners should be pretty much at full strength.
Mendy will get the nod in goal and Thiago Silva should start at centre back alongside Rudiger and possibly Christensen, but don’t be too surprised to see Azpilicueta handed a spot in the back three.
The other big selections are to be made in midfield in attack where it seems to be a choice between Jorginho and Kovacic alongside Kante in midfield, while Werner may get the nod ahead of Lukaku to partner Havertz in attack with Mason Mount playing the slot behind the front two.
Chelsea Possible XI – (5-3-2) – Mendy, James, Alonso, Rudiger, Christensen, Thiago Silva, Kante, Kovacic, Mount, Havertz, Werner.
Current Betting Odds And Match Tips
Bet365 currently have Liverpool as the 19/20 favourite to win the game, with Chelsea the outsiders at 11/4 and the draw a 13/5 shot.
Those odds seem to have been influenced by Chelsea’s relatively poor form of late, while Liverpool’s form has generally been outstanding since the turn of the year.
However, recent history suggests the draw at 90 minutes is the solid bet as that is how the last three games between the teams this season have panned out.
Despite that, I am going to go with the bookies here as Liverpool’s form since they signed Luis Diaz has been exceptional. If they can beat Manchester City inside 90 minutes at Wembley in the semifinal, they can do the same to Chelsea.
I also like Liverpool to win and both teams to score, which is a 3/1 chance, while Mo Salah to score at any time is a good value bet at 6/5.
You can tune in to the game on terrestrial TV as it kicks off at 4.45pm on Saturday 14th March, just remember to get your pre-match bets on in time!
Tags: bet365 Sport FA Cup Final
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