Palmer to haunt Pep and Co again?

Man City will start Saturday’s semi-final as big favourites to make it back to Wembley to defend their FA Cup crown in May, but Chelsea will know that when you have Cole Palmer in your side, anything is possible.

Palmer comes into the tie against his old club in perhaps the best form of any player in the entire country after his perfect, first-half hat-trick helped Chelsea thrash Everton 6-0 on Monday Night Football – meaning the England forward has now scored hat-tricks in back-to-back games at Stamford Bridge.

Palmer’s four goals in west London took his season tally to 25 in all competitions, 20 of which have come in the Premier League, a figure matched by only City’s Erling Haaland, while only Newcastle’s Alexander Isak has a superior goals-per-minute record in the top flight this campaign.

When you add in the 21-year-old’s nine assists as well, then no other player has contributed more than his 29 Premier League goals for Mauricio Pochettino’s struggling team this season, while in total, he has been involved in an astonishing 25 goals and 13 assists in just 41 games in total this campaign.

You can be sure, though, the twinkle-toed Manchester-born playmaker will be especially keen to add to those eye-catching numbers at the home of football this weekend against the team and manager who sold him to the Blues last summer.

Palmer has, of course, already inflicted pain on Pep Guardiola and City this season when demonstrating ice-cool nerves to convert a 90th-minute penalty to deny his old side all three points when they met in the league at the Bridge in November, one of nine spot kicks he has confidently dispatched so far this campaign.

But with both Palmer and Chelsea having raised their game in both previous meetings with the FA Cup holders this season, in start contrast to their other struggles, you wonder whether Pep may once again be left rueing his decision to sell Palmer come the full-time whistle on Saturday.
Richard Morgan

Will City’s FA Cup semi-final vulnerability continue?

Man City are machine-like at this time of the season. Granite chin. Ruthless.

But not in FA Cup semi-finals under Pep Guardiola. This is always a fixture that causes them problems in that it falls bang in the middle of a hectic period of Champions League and Premier League matches where every game is so intense. And boy was that Real Madrid game intense on Wednesday.

Guardiola’s side’s record of winning just two of their six FA Cup semi-finals under his watch is mediocre. Arsenal have dispatched them twice in 2017 and 2020, Liverpool managed it in 2022 and Chelsea beat them 1-0 in 2021 to end their quadruple bid.

The victories they mustered came against Sheffield United last season when they were a Sky Bet Championship outfit and against Brighton when Chris Hughton was in charge, so not the dangerous and exciting Seagulls team of today.

When faced with elite opposition, City have shown vulnerability at this stage of this competition. Chelsea certainly have a puncher’s chance.
Lewis Jones

Can Man Utd show progress under Ten Hag on his anniversary?

Sunday marks two years since Erik ten Hag was announced as the new Man Utd manage – since he arrived in the summer of 2022, it has been an often tumultuous tenure.

This season alone there have been well-publicised player-manager disagreements, inconsistent performances and results and a huge shift in the club’s hierarchy.

But there have been positives too. Last season, United reached two finals in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup – winning the former – and Ten Hag has the chance to reach another final this weekend.

United will go into the game against Championship side Coventry as heavy favourites. It by no means guarantees them a win, but it adds another layer of pressure on to one of world football’s most scrutinised clubs.

United’s last win was in their thrilling FA Cup quarter-final against Liverpool. Since then, they have thrown away leads against Brentford, Chelsea and Liverpool in the Premier League, and drew with Bournemouth in an indifferent performance last weekend.

Not only is a place in the FA Cup final at stake, but a test of United’s mentality on the big stage. They have not lived up to the stress test in the last few weeks.

But what lessons have they learnt to see them into what could be a third domestic cup final in two seasons? That’s a decent enough return, especially for a team arguably in transition, but they would be foolish to underestimate the test Coventry will give them.

Sky Sports’ Gary Neville has also said that Ten Hag’s future could largely depend on FA Cup success. Of course, another trophy would certainly make it harder for the new hierarchy to dismiss him – although the club have done so before.

But at the very least, the new United hierarchy need to see some fight from this team and signs of progress under Ten Hag in one of their most important games of the season so far.
Charlotte Marsh

Will Robins play king maker again?

We’ve all heard the story of Mark Robins saving Sir Alex Ferguson’s job. Saving those 13 Premier League titles. Saving one of football’s all-time legacies.

Reality rarely lives up to legend, but perhaps this is one of the few exceptions.

If true, Robins’ winner in the FA Cup third round in 1990 saved Fergie a premature sack which would have seen him leave Old Trafford with only two trophies to his name.

“It was my breakthrough season, to score a goal in the FA Cup third round is something you do look back on with fondness,” Robins was quoted recently.

If there’s one thing more prevalent than legend in football, it’s irony. Specifically, Robins’ ability to sound the death knell on a Man Utd manager’s spell in charge 34 years on, this time from the opposition dugout.

Ten Hag is already under pressure. United’s drop-off this season has been alarming. Two years in, there is still no discernible style of play. Jadon Sancho’s performances at Borussia Dortmund are raising questions about the personal fallout between the pair.

New owners often like to bring in their own man, and Sir Jim Ratcliffe could already list off a ream of reasons to do so. Defeat to Championship side Coventry in the semi-finals of a cup competition would top the lot.

Common sense suggests even this United side would not slip up against lower-league opposition. They have only been beaten by a team outside the Premier League in this competition once in the last 14 years.

But with their consistent inconsistence, who knows which side will turn up on Sunday.

Coventry’s Championship play-off hopes hang by a thread, perhaps sharpening their focus this weekend, and they have nothing to lose with a top-flight scalp already under their belts at Wolves in the quarter-finals. They will fancy this. Robins could yet be in the United history books for a second time.
Ron Walker

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