FA Cup final preview

Chelsea v Liverpool
FA Cup Final - Wembley
Saturday 5 May. Kick off: 17:15

Match Preview:

Chelsea and Liverpool meet at Wembley on Saturday looking to bounce back in the best possible fashion from surprising midweek defeats.

Chelsea's form in recent weeks has been nothing short of outstanding. After sacking Andre Villas-Boas and replacing him with assistant Roberto Di Matteo the Blues haven't looked back. 15 games under Di Matteo has yielded only two defeats at Manchester City and Wednesday night's 2-0 defeat at home to Newcastle. But there form prior to Papis Cisse's two wonder goals had seen everyone stand up and take note of Di Matteo's credentials. A 5-1 crushing of Tottenham in the FA Cup semi final was followed by a ground out 1-0 win at home to Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semi final. After a goalless draw at Arsenal, the Blues put in what must be the performance of the season, drawing 2-2 in the Nou Camp to knock out Messi and co and reach the final in Munich. The week was rounded off with a superb 6-1 win against rivals QPR, with much maligned striker Fernando Torres bagging a hat-trick.

Meanwhile, the Reds have already lifted silverware at Wembley this season, beating Cardiff City on penalties in the Carling Cup final, but have underperformed in the league under manager Kenny Dalglish since that epic match in February. They have lost seven of their 12 league games including home defeats to Wigan, West Brom and most recently Fulham and face the realistic possibility of finishing the season outside the top seven. However there is no doubt that Liverpool have enjoyed their best success of the season in the cups, knocking out Chelsea and then Man City over two legs in the Carling Cup and Man United and a resurgent Everton in the FA Cup to reach two Wembley finales. To win two trophies out of the three that they have entered must be deemed as a success on Merseyside, despite a below par league standing.

Form: (Last 5 games)

Chelsea: WDXWL

Liverpool: WWLWL

Stats:

Chelsea:

• This will be Chelsea's fourth FA Cup final in the past six seasons. The Blues won the previous three.
• Hold a 5-4 head-to-head lead over Liverpool in the FA Cup
• Caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo won the FA Cup twice as a player with Chelsea in 1997 and 2000.

Liverpool:

• Have won their last four matches versus Chelsea in all competitions.
• On the three previous occasions Liverpool beat Everton in an FA Cup semi-final, the Reds have gone on to lose the final.
• Looking to become the first club to win the FA Cup/League Cup double twice, having done it in 2001.

Team news:

Chelsea: Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Juan Mata are amongst those expected to be recalled after being on the bench for Wednesday night's league defeat against Newcastle.
Either Didier Drogba or Fernando Torres will start as a lone striker. Defenders David Luiz and Gary Cahill are both doubts with hamstring injuries.

Liverpool: Kenny Dalglish is also expected to make changes having made nine for the league defeat against Fulham on Tuesday. Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Jose Enrique are all set to start.
Midfielders Lucas Leiva and Charlie Adam are Liverpool's only injury concerns.

Likely line-ups:

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Mikel, Lampard, Mata, Sturridge, Drogba.

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique, Henderson, Gerrard, Kuyt, Bellamy, Downing, Suarez.

Odds: (Skybet) Chelsea (11/8) Draw (9/4) Liverpool (2/1)
Steven Gerrard to score first: 10/1