FA Cup semifinal draw: Chelsea to take on Manchester United at Wembley

It’s an all-star final four for this season’s FA Cup, with Chelsea joining Manchester United, Arsenal, and (probably) Manchester City as the last teams standing in the world’s oldest running cup competition.

These four teams have combined to win 22 of the last 27 editions (since 1992, i.e. the Premier League era): — Arsenal 8, Chelsea 7, Manchester United 5, Manchester City 2. (And only 2 of those 5 finals didn’t feature one of the four as the losing team: Liverpool vs. West Ham in 2006 and Portsmouth vs. Cardiff City in 2008.)

City are the defending champions, while Chelsea had won it the season before.

The trophy represents that last (realistic) chance for a trophy for all four teams this season as well, though at this stage everyone will be taking things seriously, fixture congestion or no fixture congestion.

For Chelsea, that will mean a clash against Manchester United, a repeat of the 2018 final, with Arsenal and Manchester City (or Newcastle United, should there be a miracle in the second half today) contesting the other semifinal. Both games will be held at Wembley, which doesn’t quite have the ring to it without fans in the stands, but that’s just how things go these days.

The semifinals are currently scheduled for the weekend of July 18-19, with the final to follow on August 1.