Wembley Stadium plays host to a blockbuster FA Cup semi-final weekend, with four sides vying for a place in the final of the oldest cup competition in world football.
Leading contenders Manchester City take on surprise package in a ‘David vs Goliath’ encounter on Saturday, while eight-time FA Cup winners Chelsea meet familiar foes Leeds United the following day.
Let’s take a closer look at each side’s recent FA Cup final appearances and how they’ve fared on the biggest stage.
In addition to lifting the League Cup trophy in March, Man City could complete their first domestic cup double since the 2018/19 season, as they face second-tier Southampton in the first semi-final tie.
Heavily fancied to reach a fourth consecutive FA Cup final, Pep Guardiola’s charges head into this showdown as odds-on favourites after getting their Premier League title pursuit back on track.
Pep Guardiola hailed ‘legend’ Bernardo Silva after Sunday’s all-important 2-1 home win over table-topping Arsenal, which set the Cityzens up perfectly for this clash.
Guardiola has won two FA Cup titles in charge of the seven-time winners, but it’s worth noting that the Etihad giants lost back-to-back finals, including a frustrating 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace last season.
Man City could become only the fifth side in FA Cup history to reach the final at least 15 times, and it’s debatable whether Southampton can do anything to stop them at Wembley.
As the only non-Premier League team left in the competition, Southampton pulled off an epic upset in the quarter-finals, beating Arsenal 2-1 at St Mary’s Stadium to set up this mouth-watering tie.
Tonda Eckert became only the third Saints manager to win his first four games in the FA Cup, but it’ll take something special from the South Coast outfit to secure a place in the title-deciding fixture.
However, after overcoming Fulham and Arsenal in the last two rounds, it’s hard to put it past Southampton to defy the odds again and reach the final for the first time since a 1-0 loss to the Gunners in 2003.
Southampton’s only previous FA Cup triumph came in 1976, well before their manager was born, and repeating that historic feat would rank among the greatest achievements in the club’s modern history.
With only Man City boasting better chances of hoisting this season’s title than Chelsea, this feels like the best opportunity for Liam Rosenior to salvage his dreadful tenure at Stamford Bridge, having reached the semifinals after beating Port Vale in the quarterfinal.
Rosenior’s dire run in the Premier League hit a new low on Saturday night, as a 1-0 home loss to Manchester United condemned the Blues to four consecutive league defeats without scoring for the first time since 1998.
With Diego Simeone emerging as a front-runner in the race to replace the former Strasbourg boss, reaching the FA Cup final for the first time since 2022 could be the only saving grace.
Chelsea lost three consecutive title deciders between 2020 and 2022, while their last title in football’s oldest cup competition dates back to 2018, when they clinched their eighth trophy.
Leeds survived a dramatic penalty shootout against West Ham United in the quarter-finals to book their first semi-final appearance in this competition in 39 years.
On that basis, it’s fair to say that Daniel Farke has already exceeded expectations, but there’s no doubt that the Whites will fancy their chances against Rosenior’s downtrodden side at Wembley.
Buoyed by three successive wins in domestic action, Leeds will be confident of qualifying for their first FA Cup final since 1973, when Sunderland denied them the chance to defend the trophy they had lifted the previous season.
Since it’s been over five decades since the Yorkshire outfit last featured in the FA Cup showpiece, this represents a golden opportunity for Farke’s side to write a new chapter in the club’s history and reignite memories of past glory.