FA Cup Final: Manchester Derby, London Derby, Or Manchester-London Final?

On Sunday, the teams that would play in the semi-final of the oldest cup competition in the world, the FA Cup, emerged. Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Arsenal all booked their places in the semis of the prestigious tournament to set up mouth-watering semi-final matches at Wembley Stadium. 

AllNews brings the latest on the FA cup fixtures looking at a possible clash in the final if any of the four teams advanced to the final. The semi-final will feature four of the most successful sides in the tournament with Arsenal the highest record holder 13.

AllNews also noticed that 3 out of the 4 teams in the semi-final are being coached by their Ex-players; with Mikel Arteta for Arsenal, Frank Lampard for Chelsea and Ole Solskjaer for Manchester United. Also, the four teams were away teams in their respective pair-ups, showing strong away forms in the FA Cup.

Manchester United vs Chelsea

Manchester United qualified with a 118th-minute strike from the world's most expensive defender, Harry Maguire. The goal was crucial at such a minute because the penalty shoot-out would have been a gamble from the reds with them being the much better side.

The Reds can be termed a newly resurrected side because of the poor way they started the season despite hammering Chelsea 4-0.  The sale of Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan and the injuries to Anthony Martial and Rashford derailed the most successful club in England. However, with  Project Restart, Man United have been gradually finding their rhythm. 

Up next is their game with Chelsea who also won with a lone strike from Ross Barkley in the 63rd minute to help the blues qualify for the semi-final of the FA cup.

So far this season, they have met thrice and United has won all three times, with the last win in the league on February 17th, 2020 at the Stamford bridge ending 2-0 in favor of the visitors. Man United will go into the fixture breaming with confidence.

Over and beyond what the pre-match statistics, football is a game better settled on the field of play, but more importantly is the outcome of the game. If Manchester United win the game, it opens up the chance to have a Manchester Derby in the final or Manchester-London Derby, depending on the outcome of the other match between Arsenal and Manchester City.  

READ ALSO: FA Fixtures: Manchester United vs Chelsea, Arsenal Faces Defending Champions Manchester United

Arsenal vs Manchester City

The record for the most win in the FA Cup is held by Arsenal, 13 times Champion of the trophy. The FA cup also is known as the Emirate FA Cup, the name of Arsenal's stadium. 

The Gunners edged past Sheffield United with goals from Nicholas Pepe via the penalty spot and a late strike from the Real Madrid loanee Dani Ceballos to give them a hard-fought win over the blades and earn them a spot in the last four. Mikel Arteta's side has been poor in terms of defense and now faces a well organized and powerful Guardiola side.

It is worthy of note, that a few months ago, Mikel Arteta was the assistant to the Spaniard at Manchester City before switching to the Emirates. They now face-off as adversaries sharing similar tactics but different arrays of world-class players.

The citizens were the better side in the quarter-final match against Newcastle but showed it more with the influence of De Bruyne in the build-up to the penalty and even more with the taking of the spot-kick. Raheem Sterling's long-range curler in the 68th minute sealed off any hope of a comeback from Newcastle. 

If the two Manchester teams were to win, we would have a Manchester Derby final. Current statistics reveal that Manchester United have won 6 in 9 matches in the FA Cup against Manchester City dating back to 1891, with the last coming on the 8th January 2012. The citizens on their part have won 3 of 9 matches in the FA cup. 

On the other hand, if the two London teams come out victorious, then we would have a London derby.

Statistics show that Arsenal has won 9, lost 6, and drew 6 out of a total of 20 matches between the north London and South-west London teams while Chelsea won 5, lost 9, and drew 6 in their 20 matches against the Gunners in the FA cup.

Most of all, if the game goes against the two cities and sends one each into the final, we would have a Manchester – London inter-city final.