This weekend at Wembley the two FA Cup Semifinals will take place, much later in the season than ever before. In the first game, Arsenal will take on Manchester City aiming to claim the first place in the final, while on Sunday night, Chelsea will face off against Manchester United with both hoping that they could take a step closer to laying claim to some silverware this season.

Of course, there is still some Premier League action taking place over the weekend, notably involving teams at the bottom of the table, but the main focus for punters this week will be on those key FA Cup clashes and who will earn the win to progress into the final and with it, potentially a chance of some silverware in this much-elongated season.

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Now let’s turn our attention back to the games taking place this coming weekend with the focus first on Saturday night’s big clash between Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, seeking a domestic cup double having already won the Football League Cup, and Arsenal who are managed by former Man City assistant Mikel Arteta.

FA Cup Semifinals

Saturday 18^th July 2020 – 7.45pm Kick Off

Arsenal v Manchester City

Arsenal managed to prise away Mikel Arteta from Manchester City in mid-season with the ex-assistant manager at City taking over as manager at Arsenal from Unai Emery. However, in terms of coming out on top on the field of play, City have been very dominant in this fixture over the last few years,

City have won both fixtures between the teams this season, home and away, by a 3-0 scoreline. They have won all of the last seven matches between the two, and eight of the last eleven. Arsenal have recorded just one win in those 11 games, although that did come in the FA Cup.

City’s immense depth of squad means that even when players like Sergio Aguero are injured, they have a top quality replacement in Gabriel Jesus ready to come in. Arsenal don’t quite have that same depth of quality although Aubameyang is good enough to cause City real problems defensively.

Both teams have made relatively straightforward progress into the semifinals, neither requiring a replay in any of their four games in the FA Cup preceding this game as the road to Wembley for each team shown below displays.

The Road to Wembley

Arsenal Road to Wembley – Arsenal & Man City

• 3^rd Round – v Leeds United (H) – W 1-0 (Nelson 55)
• 4^th Round – v Bournemouth (A) – W 2-1 (Saka 5, Nketiah 26)
• 5^th Round – v Portsmouth (A) – W 2-0 (Papasthatopoulos 45, Nketiah 51)
• Quarterfinals – v Sheff Utd (A) – W 2-1 (Pepe 25 (pen), Ceballos 90)

Manchester City Road to Wembley

• 3^rd Round – v Port Vale (H) – W 4-1 (Zinchenko 19, Aguero 4, Harwood-Bellis 58, Foden 76)
• 4^th Round – v Fulham (H) – W 4-0 (Gundogan 8 (pen), Silva.B 19, Jesus 72,75)
• 5^th Round – v Sheff Wed (A) – W 1-0 (Aguero 53)
• Quarterfinals – v Newcastle Utd (A) – W 2-0 (De Bruyne 37, Sterling 68)

Betting Tips for the Arsenal v Man City game

Full Time Result – Manchester City to win – 3/10

Can you make any reasonable argument for Arsenal to win this game? Well they certainly have the attacking talent to cause Manchester City problems and if they can do that often enough, they could possibly win this game. The problem is, they have had seven chances to do that in recent seasons and have lost every game.

I can’t see this one being any different to be honest. Both sides have issues defensively but City keep the ball better, create more chances and take more chances than the Gunners and I think at the end of the game, that will be the major difference between the sides.

I fancy City to win this one relatively comfortably.

Correct Score –  Manchester City 3-1 Arsenal – 10/1

Having predicted a relatively comfortable City win and the fact that City have scored three goals in each of their last two games against Arsenal this season, I am backing them to do so again here, but I do feel Arsenal will find the net on this occasion.

Anytime Goalscorer – Raheem Sterling (Man City) – 11/8

Raheem Sterling has a fine goalscoring record for City this season and his record at Wembley for the Citizens too is excellent. At 11/8, he is a great anytime to score option with bet365.

Sunday 19^th July 2020 – 6.00pm Kick Off

Manchester United v Chelsea

Although little separates the two teams in the Premier League, with both being heavily embroiled in the battle for Champions League places next season by claiming a place in the top four, there is no doubt that Manchester United will head into this game the more confident of the two.

Not only are the Red Devils unbeaten since January when Burnley inflicted a 2-0 defeat on them at Old Trafford, but they have been in generally good form since the restart, whereas Chelsea have been more inconsistent. In addition, United have a good record against Chelsea in recent times losing just one of the last eight games between the teams, winning five including all of the last three encounters that took place between the teams this season.

Chelsea won’t want United to potentially knock them out of the League Cup, deny them a Champions League spot and potentially be their FA Cup nemesis too, so this should make for a fantastic contest on Sunday night.

Of the two, Manchester United have had to play one more game to reach this stage, after being taken to a replay in their third round tie against Wolves. However, Chelsea’s road to Wembley, which along with Man Utd’s is shown below, also shows they had to beat two current top four teams in Liverpool and Leicester City to reach this stage.

The Road to Wembley – Man Utd & Chelsea

Manchester United Road to Wembley

• 3^rd Round – v Wolves (A) – D 0-0
• 3^rd Round Replay – v Wolves (H) – W 1-0 (Mata 67)
• 4^th Round – v Tranmere R (A) – W 6-0 (Maguire 10, Dalot 13, Lingard 16, Jones 41, Martial 45, Greenwood 56 (pen))
• 5^th Round – v Derby County (A) – W 3-0 (Shaw 33, Ighalo 41,70)
• Quarterfinals – v Norwich (A) – W 2-1 aet (Ighalo 51, Maguire 118)

Chelsea Road to Wembley

• 3^rd Round – v Nottingham Forest (H) – W 2-0 (Hudson Odoi 6, Barkley 33)
• 4^th Round – v Hull City (A) – W 2-1 (Batshuayi 6, Tomori 64)
• 5^th Round – v Liverpool (H) – W 2-0 (William 13, Barkley 64)
• Quarterfinals – v Leicester (A) – W 1-0 (Barkley 63)

Betting Tips for the Man Utd v Chelsea game

Full Time Result – Manchester United to win – 13/10

Manchester United have proven themselves well capable of beating Chelsea this season, having done so on three occasions already and I can see them making that four out of four at Wembley this weekend.

I do feel this match will be a lot closer than the first game but I think United’s better form and the knowledge that they have beaten Chelsea three times this season, will be key elements in this game. Chelsea are a young side and they are still learning how to play against some teams and I don’t think Frank Lampard has quite yet worked out how to get the best of Manchester United.

I do feel it will be a close game, but I am backing United just to edge it with a late goal.

Correct Score – Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea – 17/2

Having predicted a United win above, I do feel that Chelsea’s attack will score against United, but that United will be able to grab a couple going the other way to claim victory.

Anytime Goalscorer – Marcus Rashford (Man Utd) – 13/10

Rashford has a great goalscoring record against the top teams for United and his partnership with Martial and Greenwood is starting to pay real dividends for United in recent weeks. I can see Rashford being Chelsea’s main tormentor with another goal in this game.