CHELSEA are facing Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-final TODAY – with Liverpool awaiting in the final.
The Blues will be hoping to bounce back from their disappointing Champions League exile in Madrid on Tuesday
But Palace are bound to have some tricks up their sleeves going into this huge clash.
- Start time: 4:30pm GMT
- TV/Live stream: ITV
- Chelsea XI: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; James, Kovacic, Jorginho, Alonso; Mount, Havertz, Werner
- Crystal Palace XI: Butland; Ward, Guehi, Andersen, Mitchell; Kouyate, McArthur; Zaha, Eze, Schlupp; Mateta
Follow ALL the action with our live blog below…
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Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
33, Alonso floats a ball in and Palace clear. It comes to Jorginho, who lays it off first time for Mount. But the midfielder’s effort is way over the Palace bar.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
32, James bends one into the area, but Schlupp was alert enough to head the ball clear.
Chelsea with all the possession, now.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
29, Werner breezes past Kouyate before flashing a ball across the box. It comes to Azpilicueta who attempts an audacious scissor kick which spins off his boot and out for a Palace goal kick.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
28, A speculative ball is played over to Werner, and Andersen has to concede the corner.
Ward gets his head to James’ ball in, and Chelsea have another corner. Zaha is able to deal with it, and nearly manages to bundle through on goal, but Chelsea survive.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
27, Tuchel is screaming at his players. Not the start he was after, clearly.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
26, Jorginho plays a ball straight into the path of Eze who plays a one two before being tripped by Mount.
Eze plays a discreet ball over to Andersen who was just a few steps a way from it. It’s Mendy’s ball.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace – Chelsea change
24, Here comes the substitution, then. Finally, something for the fans to cheer!
Kovacic limps off after picking up an injury a few minutes ago.
Loftus-Cheek is on.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
23, Loftus-Cheek is being briefed on the side-lines. That could be the end of Kovacic’s afternoon.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
21, Its the battle of the throw-ins at the moment.
Mitchell wins one, before Mount gets it back, then Zaha wins another, all in the same position.
Kovacic looks to be in a spot of bother, holding his knee any time the ball goes out.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
18, Palace look to find their rhythm, but Rudiger reads it and clears it forward to an on running Werner. Andersen deals with it well, calmly heading back to his keeper.
Azpilicueta then finds some room down the right, but his touch is too heavy and rolls out for a goal kick.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
17, Very little to shout about.
Butland has just held on to possession for what felt like an age.
Both teams clearly sussing each other out here, desperate not to give anything away.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
14, Chelsea win a corner and James swings it in. But no one in yellow was anticipating the header back across goal.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
11, A tentative first 10 minutes.
Butland pumps the ball forward and Alonso chooses to shield the ball for a goal-kick. Not quite the ‘end to end’ fans might have expected.
The ball is then slipped in towards Werner, but Andersen slides in smartly to stop the attack.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
9, Eze gives the ball away carelessly, and Chelsea attack.
Some cheeky flicks nearly set Werner free. The ball then comes back out to Mount who bends one towards goal. Butland can hold on to it.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
7, We’re beginning to get started here.
Chelsea have a good spell of posession, but Mount can’t quite sweep the ball on to Azpilicueta.
Zaha then spots Mateta running forward. Christensen misjudges the pace on the ball, and sets Mateta free. The defender recovers well, though, and dispossess the Palace man.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
5, Mateta attempts to hold off both Rudiger and Alonso near the corner flag before falling into the Spaniard and conceding a foul.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
3, Havertz is judged to have impeded his man, and Palace flood the penalty area for the free-kick. Chelsea get it clear.
It’s been a disjointed start to this match.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
1, Andersen’s first touch is… a balloon. Anthony Taylor blows his whistle to clear yet another one.
I wonder if Wembley are regretting agreeing to this.
Kick-off – Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
A slightly delayed kick-off as some of those balloons I mentioned have made their way on to the field.
Both sets of players now take the knee, and referee Anthony Taylor blows his whistle to get this FA Cup semi-final underway!
Crystal Palace are in their traditional red and white stripes, whilst Chelsea sport an all yellow strip.
Here come the two teams!
The players emerge from the tunnel on to a sunny Wembley pitch.
The fans are certainly in good voice, as they wave flags and throw balloons around the stands.
We are moments away from an all-London semi-final!
‘Big game player’ Havertz ready for more
Havertz starts today, with Chelsea fans hoping for another big moment from their forward.
Since his move to London last season, the 22-year-old has scored some important goals. It all started with the German’s winner against Manchester City in the Champions League final. Since then Havertz scored in the Club World Cup final for his country, before netting against Spurs in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Will there be more Kai glory this afternoon?
.Credit: EPA
Guehi up against former club
Despite Connor Galagher’s absence today, his team-mate Marc Guehi will not be denied playing time this afternoon.
The defender chose to leave Chelsea for Crystal Palace last Summer and hasn’t looked back since, starting 30 out of 31 Premier League games this season.
I thought the decision to leave Chelsea and come to Palace was the right one in order to get that game time and hopefully show what I can do.
Marc Guehi, Crystal Palace defender
The 21-year-old may still be young, but he has Wembley experience on his side. This afternoon will mark the defender’s third appearance in the stadium after making his England debut last month and playing here for Swansea in the championship play-off final last year.
.Credit: Getty Connor is in the house
Despite no place in the side today, Gallagher has travelled with the team to watch on as a spectator.
The Englishman has the decency to sign a few shirts whilst he’s at it.
.Credit: Getty Chelsea out with point to prove
Thomas Tuchel is keen to right Chelsea’s previous wrongs at Wembley stadium this afternoon. The blues lost 11-10 on penalties to Liverpool in this season’s Carabao Cup final.
With their Champions League exit, and the Premier League seemingly out of reach, the FA Cup is Chelsea’s last hope of a trophy this season.
Speaking about today’s tie, here’s what the Chelsea boss had to say:
We have been in a final there already this season, the carabao Cup Final. We’ve lost both our finals at Wembley. You feel you have something to prove.
Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea boss
.Credit: Getty Olise option from the Eagles bench
Olise has shone under Viera this season, and joins Edouard and Benteke to provide firepower from the bench.
Guaita, Clyne, Kelly, Tomkins, Milivojevic, Olise, Ayew, Edouard, Benteke
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
