FA Cup: Chelsea Face Manchester City As Leicester Take On Southampton This Weekend
It’s another weekend, and football fans can look forward to action from the 2020-21 FA Cup, with the semi-final matches scheduled for April 17-18, 2021.
The first semi-final in this weekend’s FA Cup action sees Chelsea face Manchester City at Wembley Stadium at 5:30pm on SuperSport Premier League (channel 203). The Blues are looking to return to the FA Cup final for a second successive year (after their defeat to Arsenal last season), while the Citizens were last in the final in 2019, when they famously thrashed Watford 6-0.
The teams last met in a Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge earlier this year, with City claiming a 3-1 away win thanks to goals from Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne.
“I trust my players so much. They don’t trust me but I trust them with their quality!” said City boss Pep Guardiola coming into this clash, while Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is enjoying his side’s FA Cup adventure but wants “more precision” going forward: “We need to catch the momentum to be sharper, to be closer and to be more aggressive,” said the German tactician.
The second semi-final on Sunday April 18 sees Wembley Stadium host a clash between Leicester City and Southampton at 6:30pm on SuperSport Premier League – the two dark horses for the trophy. The Foxes showed their pedigree by putting out Manchester United in the previous round, but they would do well not to underestimate a Saints side which can afford to put all of their effort and intensity into this clash.
“I think we have shown in the FA Cup against Bournemouth, okay only a Championship team, but even there we have shown what made us strong and how we can play,” said Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttle. “We expect a much tougher game now against Leicester, but (we must have) the same behaviours and same effort, then we have a chance to win against them.”
City manager Brendan Rodgers, meanwhile, is hoping to make history with the Foxes, as the club’s best showing in the FA Cup is four runners-up finishes in 1949, 1961, 1963 and 1969.
“We are in the semifinal and we have a chance to get to the final and create history,” Rodgers said. “For the club to get to the final and win the trophy would be really special. It’s a trophy in their history they haven’t won. It’s a tough game in the semifinal but the club has never won the FA Cup so to be able to do something like that will be special.”
Viewers on DStv can see all their favourite stars from the African continent dominating FA Cup pitches across England. And with the DStv Explora, football fans can pause, rewind or record the exciting moments of the matches.
Visit www.dstvafrica.com to subscribe or upgrade, and join in on the excitement. And while you’re on the move, you can stream matches on the DStv App which is free for download on the Apple and Google Play store and can be used on up to 5 devices.
