Mauricio Pochettino could make extremely rare Chelsea decision for FA Cup semi-final vs Man City

Mauricio Pochettino might be tempted to do something on Saturday evening that he has only done twice this season. Name an unchanged team.

Chelsea go to Wembley Stadium for the second time this season as they face Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final. The Blues will be hoping to have better fortune this time at the national stadium after losing to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final there at the end of February courtesy of an extra-time header from Reds captain Virgil van Dijk.

Going into that game at Wembley was one of two times Pochettino has named an unchanged side during his short tenure at Stamford Bridge. After drawing with Manchester City the weekend before at the Etihad Stadium, the Blues head coach elected the same team for the final against Liverpool.

The other time was more recently. After a disappointing draw with Burnley in SW6, many were surprised when Pochettino chose an unchanged side to face Manchester United a few days later. But that decision was vindicated with Cole Palmer producing a stunning hat-trick to complete a memorable comeback from a Chelsea perspective.

Pochettino may well be tempted to do the same again this weekend when Chelsea take on Premier League leaders Man City, who are also strong favourites to lift the FA Cup. After thumping Everton 6-0 on Monday night, each and every one of those in a blue and white shirt made a real claim to feature from the start at Wembley this weekend.

Djordje Petrovic is the undisputed No.1 goalkeeper at the club right now after overtaking Robert Sanchez in the pecking order. The Serbian was able to keep a rare clean sheet on Monday – his and Chelsea's first since the end of January in a run that saw 13 consecutive games of the side conceding at least once.

Conor