Chelsea Have Proven That They Are Favourites For The FA Cup And An Impressive Double

Chelsea Have Proven That They Are Favourites For The FA Cup And An Impressive Double

Much of the talk going into Monday night’s FA Cup quarter-final clash was of Jose Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge and his chances of picking up a treble of sorts with the EFL Cup, FA Cup and Europa League this season.

However, with the Blues coming away 1-0 winners and into the semi-finals, where they’ll face London rivals Tottenham, the conversation is now focussing around Antonio Conte’s shot at a league and Cup double in his maiden season in English football.

With the Italian’s side running away with the Premier League, they remain ten points clear of the chasing pack with eleven games to go, it could be argued that the tougher job will be lifting the world’s most famous association trophy.

However, although Tottenham is currently the toughest tie Conte could have been handed, there are plenty of reasons for Blues fans to be confident going into the last four.

Ahead of the quarter-final draw, the west Londoners and their eventual opponents in the last eight, Mourinho’s United, were arguably the favourites to take home the FA Cup. The Blues were up there for obvious reasons, whilst the Red Devils had turned on the style, unbeaten in the Premier League since October and having just lifted the first major honour of the season.

With Mourinho’s men dispatched at the Bridge, for the second time this season after a 4-0 humiliation earlier in the campaign, they now face their closest challengers for the league title.

Spurs have been alarmingly consistent this season, and were 2-0 victors over the Blues at White Hart Lane early in January, with Dele Alli picking up a brace. Give that Pochettino’s side have already beaten Chelsea this season, many fans in west London may be concerned over a repeat, however, as Spurs showed the only weakness in Conte’s side, the chance to get a goal between the two right-sided defenders, the former Juventus manager has responded.

Conte has got his wing-backs playing tighter to their respective defenders, whist the two holding midfielders have been working tirelessly to push those attacking towards the by-line, reducing the chance to get an early ball in, as Christian Eriksen did for Alli’s two goals.

Should Conte’s side get past their London rivals at Wembley, you would back them against either of the other two semi-finalists.

While Tottenham have been consistent all season, Manchester City and Arsenal have been far from that.

Whilst Arsenal have saved all their poor performances for the last two months and imploded spectacularly, the Sky Blues have been up and down all year, making it hard to predict which of Pep Guardiola’s side will turn up.

The double is far from in the bag, however, with the draw that Chelsea have been handed, it is quickly coming into sight.