We’ve reached the business end of the season, and games are just getting bigger and bigger. Leagues are being decided, and cup competitions are reaching their final stages.
This weekend looks set to be special, and whether you’re a professional paper writer in Canada or a submarine captain in Malaysia, you’re going to want to drop everything and settle in for some quality football action in the spring sunshine.
Top of the list is Chelsea’s Saturday night FA Cup semi final against Man City, which promises to be a cracker.
Why are we so convinced it’s going to be a great game? Well, for one thing, motivation levels are going to be extremely high on both sides. The FA Cup can end up being an afterthought at this stage sometimes. But in this case, you’ve got two highly motivated teams.
Man City are out of the Champions League after a stinging defeat on Wednesday night. Their focus will now be the Premier League, but their next match is against us in this semi final.
They will want to make things right, and Pep won’t be holding back in terms of team selection. Elimination from Europe means they can go all out on both remaining fronts now.
Chelsea are in a similar situation – they can still turn this season into a success, but a huge amount hinges on beating Man City, almost just to show they’ve developed over the course of this year.
The other reason to expect a good game is on the evidence of the two league meetings between these teams this season. Both games ended in a draw- 4-4 at Stamford Bridge and 1-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
They were super open games – even the lower scoring game saw Chelsea tear open City on the counter time and time again. Man City only know how to play on the front foot, and at a neutral venue that should create some really entertaining end to end stuff.
So all the ingredients are there – a meaningful game, two motivated teams, plenty of attacking talent, and the eyes of the world on a Chelsea side who can show they’ve actually made progress this year.
Plus, we might actually have a chance in this one, given we seem to be coming into form and City should be knackered after their midweek exertions. We’ve been burned a few times this season, but we can’t deny we’re allowing ourselves to get our hopes up this time.
Are you?
