The final of the FA Cup is upon us with Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United taking on Antonio Conte’s Chelsea in what could be the Italian’s last match in charge of the Blues. Jose has never lost an English final and Conte has never won a knockout tournament. With the odds already in favour of United, let us take a preview of the upcoming match.
Team News
Chelsea
The Blues have a fully fit squad barring three players. Danny Drinkwater and David Luiz are long-term absentees with the latest addition being former AS Roma fullback Emerson Palmieri who picked up a knock recently. There are no suspension issues for the Blues to deal with before the final.
Manchester United
The Red Devils have a complete squad but might be missing their main man up front in Romelu Lukaku. Lukaku picked up an injury three weeks back and went to Belgium to speed up the recovery process and it is believed that Jose Mourinho will take a late call on the player’s fitness. Anthony Martial is fit again and ready to start.
Predicted Line-Ups
Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois, Victor Moses, Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso, N’Golo Kante, Cesc Fabregas, Willian, Eden Hazard, Olivier Giroud.
Manchester United
David De Gea, Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo, Ashley Young, Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Alexis Sanchez, Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford.
Key Men
Chelsea
For Chelsea, the first obvious key man will be Eden Hazard. The Belgian is unstoppable on his day and the Blues will be hoping Hazard chooses the grand stage of the FA Cup final to display his bag of tricks. The second difference maker could be the performance of Thibaut Courtois who no doubt will want to prove himself with David De Gea up at the other end of the pitch.
Manchester United
David De Gea will once again be crucial to the hopes of Manchester United. The Spanish keeper has simply been sublime throughout the season and United will want him to be at his best. The other man who could be key here is Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean has had an average start to his United career but what better way to redeem it than by performing at Wembley on the night of the FA Cup final. He also happens to love the ground and has an excellent record here.
Odds
Manchester United are slashed at 13/8 by Dabblebet and are favourites to win the cup.
Chelsea are given odds of 15/8 and the odds for a draw is placed at 21/10.
