FA Cup Semi-Finals – Luke Andrew’s Match Previews & Latest Betting Odds

by Luke Andrews, 18 April 2024

The world’s most prestigious domestic cup competition, the FA Cup, is down to the final four teams fighting for a place in the final. It should be an excellent football weekend with a cup final at stake. The FA Cup is renowned for upsets, and the Sky Blues of Coventry hope to knock out the tournament’s second-most successful side, Manchester United. Before that, there is the small matter of Manchester City v Chelsea. Join Luke as he previews the games.

Manchester City and Chelsea will kick-start the semi-finals on Saturday in an all-Premier League affair as Pep Guardiola’s side fight to earn a chance to defend their title. Mauricio Pochettino will hope he can have another chance in a final to win his first trophy with Chelsea after losing in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.

The only non-Premier League side, Coventry, will hope they can continue their fairy tale when they face Manchester United, who are eyeing a second successive final appearance in the competition. If the Red Devils make the final, they will set a new competition record of 22 final appearances. Both games are likely to attract a lot of attention when FA Cup betting.

Premier League Betting – Manchester City vs Chelsea

Manchester City will defend their FA Cup title against a determined Chelsea side in a match that decides who will feature in the Wembley final. The Citizens are unbeaten against the Blues in the last eight games (six wins, two draws). Both draws came in the Premier League this season, producing ten goals on aggregate, with eight in the first encounter at Stamford Bridge.

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City will feature in the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the seventh time in eight seasons, becoming the first team and manager to do so in six consecutive editions. They have, however, progressed from two of the previous six (2019 and 2023), failing to progress on four occasions, three times against London sides (twice against Arsenal and once against Chelsea). This presents a unique challenge against another London side, specifically one that they failed to defeat in this campaign.

City have to pick themselves up after crashing out of the Champions League in midweek. Real Madrid prevailed over Manchester City in a dramatic Champions League quarter-final, edging through 4-3 on penalties after the aggregate score tied at 4-4.

Despite Manchester City’s dominance, they could not secure a win, which left their double treble aspirations in tatters.

The game ended 1-1 on the night, highlighting City’s missed opportunities despite their control of the match. Seasoned in such high-stakes scenarios, Carlo Ancelotti appeared composed as his team secured a semi-final spot against Bayern Munich.

For City, the loss was a severe blow, especially considering their comprehensive performance throughout, which even saw them taking an early lead in the penalty shootout. However, misses from the spot, particularly by Bernardo Silva, tipped the scales in Real Madrid’s favour, demonstrating once again that failing to capitalise on chances against teams can be costly.

🔵🤖 Man City flying in FA Cup at half time: Erling Haaland scores three goals and Kevin de Bruyne provides three assists.

They’re at it again. 🇧🇪🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/vwQEbRXml8

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 27, 2024

Erling Halaand is their top scorer in the competition, scoring five goals in two games, but all of his goals came in their 6-2 win against Luton Town. The Norwegian has already scored twice against their weekend opponents this season.

In the FA Cup, City have beaten Huddersfield (5-0), Tottenham (0-1), Luton (2-6) and Newcastle (2-0).

Home team top scorer : – Erling Halaand, anytime goal scorer 4/5 & first goal scorer 3/1 with bet365.

Chelsea has fallen at the hands of Manchester City in five of the previous seven FA Cup duels, including last season in the third round. The Blues, however, boasted a win in the semi-finals when the two faced the 2020-21 edition, winning by a single goal to book a place in the finals, where they eventually lost to Liverpool on penalties.

The game will be Chelsea’s twenty-seventh appearance in the FA Cup semi-finals, becoming just the third most appearances behind Arsenal (30) and Manchester United (32). Furthermore, they have the third most appearances in the finals (sixteen) behind the two clubs, which have twenty-one appearances each. The London side has the second most appearances at Wembley as a neutral venue (forty-three), eclipsed by Manchester United, with this match being the thirtieth since it was reopened in 2007.

🗣️ Cole Palmer: "Initially I didn’t want to leave. I said I would go on loan and play for a year so I was ready for first team football more because I didn’t play a lot of minutes [last season]. But then Pep said “you’re either staying or you’re getting sold” and, so yeah, I just… pic.twitter.com/RFnDPRTCbD

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) April 18, 2024

Chelsea is in high spirits heading to this game, having thumped relegation-battling Everton 6-0 on Monday night. The game’s highlight was Cole Palmer’s performance, scoring four times, and he will once again be out to hurt his former side, having scored the all-important goal to level the scores at 4-4 in the eight-goal thriller when the two teams met at Stamford Bridge in November.

In the FA Cup, Chelsea have beaten Preston (4-0), Aston Villa (1-3 after a replay due to a 0-0 draw), Leeds (3-2) and Leicester (4-2).

Away team top scorer : -Cole Palmer, anytime goal scorer 7/2 & first goal scorer 11/1.

Selected bets: – Manchester City 10/21, Draw 15/4, Tottenham 6/1. Over 2.5 8/15, Under 2.5 6/4. BTTS: No 6/5, Yes 8/11.

Manchester City will likely play in a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Haaland being the lone striker. Chelsea are also likely to play with one, Jackson up front in a 4-2-3-1.

Luke’s Prediction – Manchester City 2 Chelsea 1.

Premier League Betting – Coventry vs Manchester United

Championship side Coventry is deservedly in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, having pulled off a major upset in the quarter-finals, knocking out Premier League side Wolves. The Sky Blues have won twice and lost three times since the magical win against Wolves, including in the last two games in the Championship (2-1 v Southampton & 3-0 v Birmingham).

A big worry for Mark Robins is his side’s form away from home as all three defeats have come on the road, with their most recent a 3-0 humbling by Birmingham City.

They have a very remote chance of qualifying for the playoffs as they are situated 8th in the table with 63 points, eight shy of Norwich on 71 in 6th. They would need to win all their remaining games (Hull, Blackburn, Ipswich and QPR) and hope Hull City and Norwich drop points. A good result against one of England’s most decorated sides, Manchester United, could motivate them to reignite their season and aid in their quest to get promotion to the Premier League.

The most significant concern would be keeping goals out, as they have not kept a clean sheet in seven consecutive games heading to the Wembley tussle.

Ellis Simms: The boyhood Manchester CITY fan who is now Coventry City's striker.

Is it written in the stars that he scores against Manchester United at Wembley?#PUSB #MCFC #MUFC #COVMUN #EmiratesFACup @itvfootball @ITVCentral https://t.co/Sj6wawYnpT pic.twitter.com/aBIDZNSuTL

— Dan Salisbury-Jones (@dsj_itv) April 18, 2024

Ellis Simms is a man in top form, with eighteen goals in this campaign, six in the last six games. He has the highest number of goal involvements in the competition (seven), with five goals and two assists.

In the FA Cup, Coventry have beaten Oxford (6-2), Sheffield Wednesday(4-1 after a replay due to a 1-1 draw), Maidstone United (5-0) and Wolves (2-3).

Home team top scorer : – Ellis Simms, anytime goal scorer 10/3 & first goal scorer 10/1.

Manchester United have proven they can entertain with some great FA Cup moments, with the most recent being a 4-3 win against Liverpool to earn a place in the final four. Despite being heavy underdogs against a then quad-chasing team, Erik Ten Hag’s side came from behind in extra time to win the tie and move one step closer to reaching a second consecutive final.

Last season’s runners-up lost to their noisy neighbours Manchester City and head to this tie winless in four games (three draws, one defeat) since they last won against Liverpool.

The Red Devils have won six of the last seven games against Coventry, but the one they lost was their most recent encounter in 2007 in the Carling Cup round of sixteen (2-0) at Old Trafford, which was watched by a crowd of over 74,000 (74,055).

United have conceded twelve goals in the last five games, including two in their previous match against Bournemouth, where they came from behind twice to draw 2-2.

Allz I’m saying is Rasmus Hojlund does it against Bayern in the biggest stage but y’all stay safe out there tho… pic.twitter.com/DkHEC8fdxy

— 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐚’𝐬 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝 (@CantonasMind) April 18, 2024

Rasmus Hojlund has the highest number of goals for United this season with thirteen, but Bruno Fernandes, who scored twice at the weekend, has the highest goal involvement (twelve goals, nine assists).

In the FA Cup, Manchester United have beaten Wigan (0-2), Newport (2-4), Nottingham Forest (0-1) and Liverpool (4-3).

Away team top scorer : – Rasmus Hojlund, anytime goal scorer 11/8& first goal scorer 5/1.

Selected bets: – Coventry 11/2, Draw 4/1, Manchester United 9/20. Over 2.5 1/2, Under 2.5 13/8. BTTS: No 13/10, Yes 4/6.

Coventry will likely start with Simms and Wright up front in a 4-3-1-2. Manchester United’s striker options are much more limited, so they will probably have Rasmus Højlund as the attacking focus in a 4-2-3-1. As a result, I can see plenty of goals being scored.

Luke’s Prediction – Coventry City 2 Manchester United 3.

I predict a repeat of last season’s finals between the two Manchester teams, which is remarkable as the two had never met in a final for the first 151 years of the competition. Chelsea is a team that is in good form, unbeaten in their last eight games (five wins, three draws), but I expect City will be hurting after their European exit and will take revenge on Chelsea.

Coventry couldn’t have wished for a better draw than Manchester United, who are winless in four (three draws, one defeat). The Sky Blues have two players who can hurt the Red Devils (Haji Wright & Ellis Simms), but I feel United have too much quality. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Coventry taking the lead, so first goalscorer bets on Wright and Simms could be profitable. I’ll also be backing United ‘to win from behind’, available at 11/2.

All stats are taken from SoccerSTATS.comand WhoScored.com, and the odds are from bet365 and are correct at the time of writing but can fluctuate, especially in play.

All tips are provided as entertainment only; the author’s opinion should not be considered financial guidance. Always bet responsibly; if you need help with problem gambling, you can find organisations that offer support in this page’s footer.