Chelsea will be looking to maintain some silverware hope when they go out to Wembley Stadium against a Crystal Palace hoping pull off a shock and reach their second final in six years. Liverpool await the winners of this tie in the final next month with Chelsea looking to get revenge over the Reds after the League Cup final earlier this season.
The Blues are 8/13 favourites with Betfred while Palace are 5/1 longshots and a draw after 90 minutes is 3/1. Chelsea have won each of their last nine fixtures with Crystal Palace, all in the league.
Thomas Tuchel's side will be looking to put their Champions League exit in the past very quickly despite their heroic efforts at the Santiago Bernabeu earlier this week. The current European champions bowed out of the quarter-finals 5-4 on aggregate to Real Madrid but still have a chance to win some silverware after losing on penalties to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.
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The eight-time winners will be facing a Crystal Palace who, on paper, are the weakest side going into the semi-finals but the Eagles will be looking to make only their third FA Cup final appearance in their history. They will be relying on the stewardship of boss Patrick Vieira who has strong affiliations to this competition to motivate them to a shock and Tuchel will be more than prepared for the event.
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Tips
- Chelsea to win and under 2.5 total goals - 5/2
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Team stats
Both teams in matches involving Chelsea have scored in 25 matches out of 53 in all competitions including three in four in the FA Cup. For Palace, it is 18 from 36 in all competitions including two in four in the cup - both teams to score is 10/11.
Chelsea have finished 26 of their matches with three or more total goals in all competitions but have not finished a single FA Cup tie this season in this manner while for Palace it is 20 in all competitions including three in the cup. Under 2.5 total goals is 10/11.
Players to watch
For Chelsea, I am going to back Mason Mount after his incredible displays this week at Southampton and against Real Madrid too. The former youth player has picked up 25 goal involvements this season in 45 appearances in all competitions including 11 goals. Against Southampton, he picked up two goals and an assist in their 6-0 rout before picking up another goal and assist in their 3-2 defeat in Madrid.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace will typically look for the likes of Wilfried Zaha to make a big-game performance at Wembley and with the loss of Conor Gallagher due to the loan agreement with his parent club, the Ivorian international will need to step up.
H2H
This will be the 57th meeting between the two sides with Chelsea picking up 30 wins, 15 draws and 11 defeats against Palace in all competitions. In the FA Cup, this will be the sixth meeting between the two sides with two wins apiece and a draw.
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