FA Cup: Can the Eagles Give Chelsea More Blues?

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace

London’s calling for an FA Cup tie to savour folks. On Sunday, Chelsea and Crystal Palace will make the short trip to a packed-out Wembley for their semi-final shootout. 

Chelsea come into this game on the back of a mentally draining Champions League exit to Real Madrid, while Palace lost 2-1 to Leicester City last week, though that result ended a sequence of four wins in five. 

At an SBOTOP price of 1.27 to go through the Blues are under pressure to perform while the Eagles have little to lose, with odds of 3.43 on them making the final.

There are plenty of smiles around Selhurst Park at the moment. Despite being one of the pre-season favourites to go down, the Eagles are sitting happily in tenth place and a top-half position looks on.

Patrick Vieira’s side cruised through to the semi-final with a 4-0 destruction of Everton. Chelsea made the last four thanks to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough, but the big problem the Blues may have is their ability to pick themselves up after such a heart-breaking defeat on Tuesday.     

Talking Points

Can Chelsea go again?

The much hoped-for Miracle in Madrid came so close to happening and Chelsea looked like they would be able to continue the defence of their European crown when they were 3-0 up on the night, and 4-3 ahead on aggregate, with just ten minutes to play.

Goals from Timo Werner, Anton Rudiger and Mason Mount had the Blues’ fans dreaming, but a moment of magic from former Spurs star Luka Modric shattered their hopes. The Croatian played a sublime ball with the outside of his foot onto the boot of Rodrygo and he finished brilliantly.

Karim Benzema’s extra-time winner sent Chelsea fans home drained, while boss Thomas Tuchel complained at the referee’s showing after a Marcos Alonso goal was controversially ruled out.

It was a superb performance from the whole Chelsea team. Kai Havertz in attack and Antonio Rudiger in defence were outstanding, and they are sure to start against the Eagles. There could also be a place for sub keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who will hope to redeem himself after missing a penalty in the Carabao Cup final.

The Premier League is gone as far as Blues fans are concerned, with Manchester City and Liverpool fighting it out for the league title. And with European glory snatched away from them, Chelsea have one big prize left. There will be plenty of top FA Cup 2022 highlights in this clash with a confident Crystal Palace.     

Vieira’s Palace has quality from back to front

Before the defeat to the Foxes, Crystal Palace had been on a great run of four wins in five, the other result being a 0-0 draw with Manchester City. Vieira’s team hammered Everton to reach the last four of the FA Cup and beat Arsenal 3-0 in the league to severely damage the Gunners’ top-four hopes.  

21-year-old centre-back Marc Guehi has been a superb addition to the first 11. He has played 35 games, scoring four goals (two in the FA Cup) and has showed great maturity in his big performances, and leadership of a defence which has conceded just three goals in six games. Left-back Tyrick Mitchell has had a break-out season, picking up his first two England caps at the age of 22.

In attack, 20-year-old French winger Michael Olise has been an exciting watch all year. Following his £9m switch from Reading, he’s scored two goals, made five assists and created 20 big chances in his 22 appearances and his pace and confidence on the ball make him a nightmare opponent for full-backs. And Olise has finally taken some weight from the shoulders of talisman Wilfried Zaha. The Ivorian wizard is top scoring with 12 goals but the Eagles are no longer a one-man team.

History

The Blues are eight-time FA Cup winners, the last time in 2018, while Palace have never won the FA Cup. They came close in 2016 in a thrilling final against Manchester United, eventually losing 2-1 after they found themselves ten minutes from winning the grand old cup.

Jason Puncheon gave the Eagles a lead, late in the game, and, when the Red Devils went down to ten men after the dismissal of Chris Smalling, Palace were hot favourites to win a first major competition. But a Juan Mata equaliser and an extra-time winner from Jesse Lingard cruelly ended their adventure.      

Betting Tip

The latest FA Cup 2022 betting odds reckon the winner of the 2022 trophy will come from the other semi-final, between Manchester City and Liverpool, but this game promises to be a cracking spectacle, and I certainly wouldn’t rule out the chance of a London club triumphing in May.

Eagles fans will fancy their chances, and a bet on Crystal Palace +1.00 @ 1.89** is an alternative for the South Londoners, while Blues fans might prefer a correct scoreline of 2-1 to Chelsea at odds of 6.76.  

 

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