FA Cup final: Team news and Opta stats for Chelsea v Manchester United

Saturday May 19

FA Cup final - Chelsea v Manchester United

• Date & kick-off time: Saturday May 19, 17:15 BST
• Venue: Wembley
• TV coverage: BBC One, BT Sport 2
• Sky Bet odds: Chelsea 19/10, draw 21/10, Manchester United 8/5

Team news

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois could play in the FA Cup for the first time this season when Chelsea play Manchester United in Saturday's final.

Willy Caballero has featured in the competition this term, but did not convince when deputising when Courtois missed the Premier League draw with Huddersfield with a back injury.

Full-back Emerson Palmieri (undisclosed) has joined defenders David Luiz (knee) and Ethan Ampadu (ankle) in being ruled out injured.

Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku needs a late fitness test ahead of the FA Cup final against Chelsea.

The Belgium international faces a race against time to recover from an ankle injury in order to line up against his former club.

Winger Anthony Martial is fit after shaking off a knee problem.

Teams:

Chelsea (from): Courtois, Caballero, Rudiger, Alonso, Fabregas, Drinkwater, Kante, Barkley, Morata, Hazard, Pedro, Bakayoko, Moses, Giroud, Zappacosta, Willian, Cahill, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Eduardo.

Manchester United (from): De Gea, Romero, Valencia, Darmian, Shaw, Young, Lindelof, Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Bailly, Matic, Pogba, McTominay, Fellaini, Herrera, Mata, Lingard, Martial, Sanchez, Rashford, Lukaku.

Opta statistics

• This will be Manchester United’s 20th FA Cup final – a joint-record with Arsenal, while only the Gunners (13) have won the trophy more than the Red Devils (12).
• This is Chelsea’s 13th appearance in the showpiece – they lost last year’s final against Arsenal and could become the first team to lose consecutive FA Cup finals since Newcastle in 1998 and 1999.
• This is the third time these sides have met in the FA Cup final, making it the joint-most played final in the history of the competition (Arsenal vs Liverpool, Arsenal vs Newcastle and Aston Villa vs West Brom also three).
• Of the previous two, Manchester United won 4-0 in 1994 as part of their first top-flight and FA Cup double, while Chelsea won 1-0 in 2007 in the first final played at the new Wembley Stadium.
• In all FA Cup meetings, Chelsea are unbeaten in their last four against Man Utd (W3 D1), since a 2-0 loss in a quarter-final replay in 1998-99.
• In all competitions, Man Utd have won two of their last three meetings with Chelsea (L1), more than they had in their previous 14 against the Blues (W1 D6 L7).
• This will be the eighth meeting between these sides at Wembley Stadium, the most played fixture at the ground in all competitions. Both sides have won two games apiece, with three matches going to penalty shootouts (2 wins for Man Utd, 1 for Chelsea).
• The Red Devils haven’t conceded more than a single goal in any of their last 16 FA Cup matches, keeping eight clean sheets in that time. Dele Alli’s strike for Spurs in the semi-final is the only goal they’ve conceded in the competition this season.
• Meanwhile, the Blues have conceded just twice in the competition this season – against Norwich in the third round and Leicester in the quarter-finals.
• Jose Mourinho – winner with Chelsea in 2007 – could become only the third manager to win the FA Cup with two different clubs, after Herbert Chapman (Huddersfield and Arsenal) and Billy Walker (Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest).
• Mourinho has won 12 of his 14 previous major European and domestic finals as manager (excluding Super Cup games), winning all six with English clubs (4 x League Cup, 1 x FA Cup, 1x Europa League).
• Antonio Conte could become the first manager to lose consecutive FA Cup finals since Howard Kendall in 1985 and 1986.
• Conte has lost both of his previous domestic cup finals as manager, with Juventus vs Napoli in the 2012 Coppa Italia, and the 2017 FA Cup with Chelsea against Arsenal.
• Alexis Sanchez scored in last season’s final with Arsenal, and could become the first player to score in consecutive cup finals with different clubs.
• Sanchez also scored in the 2015 final, with Olivier Giroud also netting that game. Only two players have scored for different sides in post-war FA Cup finals – Frank Stapleton (Arsenal and Man Utd) and Ian Wright (Crystal Palace and Arsenal).
• The last player to play in consecutive FA Cup finals but for different clubs was Brian Talbot (Ipswich 1978, Arsenal 1979). Both Sanchez and Giroud could do so in this game.
• Sanchez has scored eight goals in his eight games at Wembley Stadium for club and country, including six in five FA Cup appearances at the ground.
• Giroud has been directly involved in 22 goals in his 26 FA Cup appearances (15 goals, 7 assists), more than any other player in the competition since his debut.
• The Frenchman has either scored or assisted a goal in all three of his FA Cup final appearances – he assisted the winning goals in both the 2014 and 2017 finals, and scored as a late substitute in 2015.
• Romelu Lukaku has scored 12 goals in his last 12 FA Cup appearances, including five in five for Manchester United.

Follow Sporting Life on social media - find us on Facebook here or tweet @SportingLife

Related football links

• Free football betting tips
• Live scores and in-play odds
• Latest football fixtures
• Football results
• Updated football tables
• Latest Paper Talk
• Sky Bet's football odds