Joao Pedro is Chelsea’s best chance of winning this final, he’s probably the only Chelsea player that has lived up to expectations this season - and likely exceeded them, having netted 23 goals across all competitions.

One of Joao Pedro’s main struggles in the first half of the campaign was not taking enough shots. His shot volume has improved since the turn of the year, with his average across the Premier League as a whole sitting at 0.98 shots on target per 90 from a wider shot average of 2.47 shots per 90.

Joao Pedro had three shots in the most recent meeting between the sides, with Chelsea losing that game 3-0, and has scored two goals across his two starts in the FA Cup this term, taking five shots across those games (2.43 per 90).

Enzo Fernandez missed the most recent meeting between the sides due to being sidelined by Liam Rosenior as the former Chelsea boss attempted to instil some discipline in the side, with this move spectacularly backfiring as Chelsea slumped to a 3-0 defeat against City and desperately missed the presence of Fernandez.

The Argentine scored the equaliser the last time he featured against Manchester City, notably contesting 13 duels in that game. He’s won 42 fouls across his 33 starts in the Premier League this season (1.29 per 90), and was notably hauled down four times in Chelsea’s slim triumph over Leeds in the semi-final of the competition. 

Fernandez operates in more advanced areas of the pitch these days, so he’s likely to be faced up by Bernardo Silva (1.17 fouls per 90) and Nico Gonzalez (1.77 fouls per 90). Rodri could also feature in that deeper midfield role for City, but he is a slight doubt for the final after missing the last few games with injury.

The market is quite heavily leaning towards City here, but I think Chelsea will be able to make a decent fight of this. Winning the FA Cup is the only remaining avenue for Chelsea to make this a successful season, with their league campaign collapsing over recent weeks.

It’s also important for the Blues as winning the FA Cup will guarantee them a spot in Europe next season, which is something that they could miss out on entirely if they continue to plummet down the Premier League table in a tight field as we approach the end of the season. 

Manchester City have also struggled in recent cup finals, losing each of their last two FA Cup finals against Manchester United and Crystal Palace. Pep Guardiola’s side failed to keep a clean sheet in the semi-final against Southampton and have still struggled a little with limiting sides in transition.

Chelsea tend to raise their level for this kind of game, and I think we’ll see the same from the Blues here. They’ve scored in each of their last three matches, which is a significant turnaround from failing to score in the previous three matches - and their performance at Anfield last time out should give them real confidence here.

Chelsea don’t have many issues at all when it comes to creating chances, but they are far from the most clinical side in the world. This has been an issue at Chelsea for the last few seasons, and is another unwanted comparison to Brighton in that they clearly require more elite finishers in the side to make the most of their chance creation.

Chelsea drew three saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma in the most recent meeting between the sides, managing 12 shots despite being outclassed for most of the encounter as Guardiola’s side registered a 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea also managed to draw two saves from Donnarumma when the sides met at the Etihad in a contest that finished 1-1. 

Donnarumma is averaging 2.30 saves per 90 in the Premier League this season with a save percentage of 73.1%. Chelsea have managed to test him at least twice in both of the league meetings between the sides this season, and have the quality to test him on at least two occasions again in this crucial game for the club.

I’ve been waiting for Jeremy Doku to add a consistent end product to his game for a few seasons, and he’s finally starting to be an effective player in the final third.

He’s still just as difficult to stop when in 1v1 duels, and hasn’t lost much of his dynamism, which makes him such a fun player to watch - but Guardiola has ensured that he now has some solid numbers to make him a worthwhile feature in the City attack.

Doku has registered 10 goal contributions across just 18 starts in the Premier League this season, and notably scored against Chelsea in the most recent head-to-head meeting between the sides. 

He had more touches than any other player in the box during that clash (13), and has registered a goal contribution in each of his last three Premier League starts. He also had a hand in both goals in City’s comeback win over Southampton in the semi-final, registering a goal and an assist inside just 32 minutes of action. 

Cole Palmer hasn’t had a good season, but he can still play a part in this final - which is where he tends to be at his best. Palmer has been instrumental in the finals he’s played for Chelsea so far, single-handedly carrying Chelsea to both the Conference League and Club World Cup trophies.

While Palmer hasn’t been delivering at the same level we’ve come to expect from him when it comes to goal contributions, his shot numbers are still incredibly positive and I get the feeling that he’ll want to make a statement ahead of the World Cup squad announcement - it’s his final chance to impress Thomas Tuchel to earn a call up in what is a packed position of talent for England.

Palmer is averaging 2.92 shots per 90 in the Premier League this season, showing how his shot output hasn’t changed too much since last season (3.55 per 90). He also has the added motivation of facing up against his former club, which seemed to have an impact in the most recent meeting between the sides, as Palmer had four shots. 

Enzo Fernandez is usually one of the main characters in these high profile games for Chelsea. It’s his best scoring season in a Chelsea shirt so far, with 15 goals for the Argentine across all competitions - only Joao Pedro (23) has scored more goals for Chelsea this term than Fernandez.

Fernandez has undeniable quality, and pretty much dragged Chelsea to the final on his own with a Player of the Match performance against Leeds - including scoring the winner. He was fortunate to avoid a card in that semi-final too, committing three fouls, which shows how easy it is for Fernandez to get sucked into the emotion of these high profile matches.

Fernandez netted the equaliser in his last start against Manchester City, as Chelsea earned a point at the Etihad through a 1-1 scoreline. Only Moises Caicedo (11) has picked up more yellow cards than Enzo Fernandez (nine) in the Premier League for Chelsea this season, making this angle worth exploring as a single @ 2.75, as well as backing it as part of a longshot.