Injury boost, Noni Madueke chat - Three things spotted in Chelsea training before Man City

It has been a week of smiles and sunshine for Chelsea. Coming off the back of their biggest Premier League win in two years — an emphatic 6-0 pumping of hapless and relegation-threatened Everton — the Blues are in fine shape heading into their FA Cup semi-final clash with Manchester City.

Having been defeated four times by last season's treble winners in 2022/23 without scoring as much as a goal, Mauricio Pochettino has seen his side earn two valiant draws this term. Chelsea pushed City all the way when the two teams last met in February at the Etihad Stadium and caused them serious problems in the dramatic Stamford Bridge epic before the turn of the year.

They also have a strong recent record over Pep Guardiola in knockout games, winning the 2021 Champions League final as well as the FA Cup semi-final in an empty Wembley Stadium just one month earlier under Thomas Tuchel. Much has changed since, but having been just minutes away from apparent collapse for much of 2024 despite stronger results, they come into this game with confidence.

Chelsea are unbeaten in 90 minutes for two months now and have only been defeated once in their last 12 in all competitions. The devil is in the detail though, and draws to Brentford, Burnley, and Sheffield United as well as the extra time horrorshow against Liverpool in the League Cup have meant there is still plenty of work for Pochettio to do to win over the fans.

A good way to start would be getting to what has become an almost yearly event now, the FA Cup final. Here, football.london looks at what has been going on in training in the build-up.

Only this Chelsea could be 3-0 up and cause a drama. Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson's penalty farce at SW6 on Monday was a farce and got the sort