All eyes turn to Wembley Stadium as English football comes to a standstill for the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester City.
This is the 10th successive FA Cup final to feature one or the other, with Man City creating history by reaching the final for the fourth season in a row. They lost against Crystal Palace last term, but their recent record is much stronger than Chelsea’s, who have lost in each of their last three FA Cup final appearances. A win for City would see them draw level with Chelsea on eight FA Cup wins, with only Arsenal (14) and Manchester United (13) winning more.
When the teams come out of the tunnel, it’ll be 1,813 days since Chelsea last beat Manchester City – just two weeks shy of five years. Since being defeated in the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League final, City haven’t lost any of their 13 meetings with Chelsea in any competition (W10 D3), their longest ever unbeaten run against them. The aggregate scoreline over these 13 games is 25-7 in City’s favour.
For Chelsea, their 13-game winless run in meetings with City is their longest against any opponent since going 17 without a victory against Arsenal between January 1999 and March 2004. A lack of continuity appears not to have helped the Blues. Since Pep Guardiola arrived at City in the summer of 2016, Chelsea have faced the Spaniard’s side on 27 occasions in all competitions and had nine different managers in their dugout: Thomas Tuchel (5), Antonio Conte (4), Maurizio Sarri (4), Frank Lampard (4), Mauricio Pochettino (3), Graham Potter (3), Enzo Maresca (2), Liam Rosenior (1) and Calum McFarlane (1).
By their standards, Chelsea head into this FA Cup final in a woeful run of form. They’ve won just two of their last 11 competitive games, with those victories coming in the FA Cup over League One side Port Vale and Leeds United. No team has gone into an FA Cup final having won as few of their previous 11 competitive games since Newcastle United in 1998-99 (also two wins). Newcastle lost that final 2-0 to Manchester United.
In fact, since the start of March, no team in Europe’s big five leagues have lost more matches in all competitions than Chelsea (9). Their total number of competitive defeats in 2026 stands at 12, just three fewer than in the whole of 2025 (15) and as many as in 2024 and 2022 (both 12). In the Premier League era, only in 1993 (50%) and 2023 (44%) have they lost a greater proportion of their competitive games than in 2026 so far (43%).
If their recent form wasn’t enough to worry Chelsea fans, their record in domestic cup finals over the last few years might increase tension ahead of today. Chelsea have failed to score in each of their last four FA Cup and League Cup finals, making them the only team to ever go four finals in a row across those competitions without netting. They’ve had 53 shots and 18 shots on target without scoring in those four finals and, since Christian Pulisic scored against Arsenal in the 2020 FA Cup final, they are 60 shots without scoring in domestic cup finals.
In their last six (including the 2019 League Cup final), they’ve converted just one of 69 shots (1.4%). Of course, this terrible record in front of goal only applies to domestic cup finals for Chelsea. They have proved that they can perform in big games, and they undoubtedly have players who can step up in such matches.
Their last two final appearances have come in continental competition, comfortably defeating reigning Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in the FIFA Club World Cup back in July, two months after thrashing Real Betis 4-1 in the UEFA Conference League final. It’s been a difficult season for Cole Palmer. After being among the best Premier League players in 2024-25, culminating in a FIFA Club World Cup title in which he was instrumental, 2025-26 has proved a struggle.
The 24-year-old has provided 10 goals and three assists in an injury-hit campaign that’s seen him play only 31 games for the club. That return is way below his record in 2024-25 (18 goals, 13 assists), with the England international playing 2,068 fewer minutes this campaign. Since moving to Chelsea from Man City in September 2023, Palmer has been a revelation.
He has 84 goal involvements across 128 appearances in all competitions in that time, a record that is bettered by just four other Premier League players. But his recent form has faltered. He’s not provided a single goal or assist in his last 10 appearances for Chelsea, despite playing 763 minutes.
Failure to be involved in a goal – if selected – would mean it’ll be his longest run without a goal involvement in his club career (11 games). If there’s a perfect time to remind everyone how good he is – most of all, Thomas Tuchel ahead of his World Cup squad announcement – then it’s against his former club in the FA Cup final.
