Former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson says he expects Manchester City to beat Chelsea in the FA Cup on Saturday evening.
The Premier League champions are licking their wounds after crashing out of the Champions League midweek and, while he thinks Chelsea will make life tough for their opponents, Lawrenson told Paddy Power that Pep Guardiola’s side will come out on top:
“Chelsea will make it difficult for Manchester City and I’m not sure there will be loads of goals in this because Mauricio Pochettino will close it down. I’ll still go for City to win this FA Cup semi-final.”
Lawrenson has gone with a 2-0 victory to the Cityzens, who will reach their third final in six seasons if they do secure a win at Wembley this weekend.
City do have a number of fitness concerns heading into the game
Guardiola confirmed after the penalty shootout loss to Real Madrid on Wednesday that Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji were all forced off due to injury.
While Haaland didn’t appear to be struggling, De Bruyne looked to have pulled his hamstring before he was substituted. Considering his recent issues with muscular problems, this latest fitness setback will be a big concern. The midfielder is a massive doubt for the Chelsea match.
Squad rotation is likely against Chelsea
With City heading into the semi-final having played 120 minutes just a few days earlier, you can expect Guardiola to make plenty of changes, in addition to those forced upon him by injuries.
The likes of Stefan Ortega, Rico Lewis, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic, Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku were all on the bench midweek so it’s likely all 7 will be in the starting lineup on Saturday. Considering the strength of the squad, you can’t see it having much of an effect on City’s chances of beating Chelsea.
