Chelsea will have a great chance of winning Sunday’s game as Manchester City insist they will focus more on the Champions League rather than the domestic competition. “We have just 13 (senior) players available to play. We have to play Champions League on Wednesday. We’ll see the best team we can play on Sunday. Young players have the option and they must take their chances. For me the priority is always the next game but we must make an exception now because of so many injuries” Pellegrini said when asked about his FA Cup strategy. Even if it’s not something to hang on to, Chelsea should not be ashamed to use their best lot and get through the next stage of the FA Cup.

As the BBC reported, Hiddink said: “I will make hardly any changes because we take the FA Cup very seriously. Winning the FA Cup is a prestigious prize in England but also worldwide.” The Blues have the upper hand right now and should take full advantage of this situation. The Premier League title is out of the question this year and the Champions League seems hard to concur given the team’s result against PSG and the overall performances of this season.

Looking at the statistics when it comes to FA Cup confrontations between Chelsea and City, The Citizens look like they have the upper hand. Chelsea won only 1 of the 5 FA Cup games against Manchester City but have the better record when it comes to the number of trophies won. Hiddink looks like the FA Cup specialist though, winning 5 out of 5 in his two mandates at Stamford Bridge. Both teams have impressive records as they managed to maintain at least 3 clean sheets during their past FA Cup Games.

Head-To-Head Statistics: Chelsea – 61 wins; Manchester City – 51 wins; Draws – 39

Chelsea Starting XI:

Courtois; Azpilicueta; Ivanovic; Cahill; Rahman; Matic; Loftus-Cheek; Pedro; Hazard; Willian; Costa

Substitutes: Begovic; Miazga; Fabregas; Mikel; Oscar; Pato; Traore

Unavailable:

Terry; Zouma; Falcao

Manchester City Starting XI:

Caballero; Kolarov; Otamendi; Demichelis; Zabaleta; Fernando; Alex Garcia; Celina; Manu Garcia; Sterling; Iheanaco

Substitutes: Hart; Clichy; Mangala; Toure; Silva; Aguero; Bony

Unavailable:

Navas; De Bruyne; Delph; Nasri

Score Prediction:

Chelsea 3 – 0 Manchester City