Antonio Conte and Chelsea FC are obviously extremely disappointed with how their season ended, as the Blues followed up a Premier League title winning campaign by slumping to fifth. They’re now left out of Champions League for next season, and will instead have to play in the Europa League tournament in 2018-19.
Therefore, winning on Saturday against Manchester United in the FA Cup Final would be a nice uplift to counterbalance the negative vibe of this past week. It would also make for a decent potential send-off for manager Antonio Conte, who admits he’s still in the dark about his future.
A victory would also be a tremendous point of personal pride for Conte, given his row with his Chelsea predecessor, and boss on the opposite touchline, Jose Mourinho. Conte, once again, took a shot at Mourinho a few days ago, by criticizing the state of the team that he inherited from Mourinho.
The Sports Bank’s Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction:
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois
Defenders: Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta, Dan Cahill
Midfielders: N’Golo Kante, Cesc Fabregas, Victor Moses, Marcos Alonso
Forwards: Pedro, Eden Hazard, Willian
FA Cup Final Odds via BetFair: Man Utd 8/5, Chelsea FC 19/10
Kickoff: 5:15 Local
United Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
FA Cup Injury and Fitness Report for both teams: coming soon
Prediction: United 3, Chelsea FC 2
This will be a clash between two managers with tremendous self-confidence, and extremely high ambitions. The history of personal acrimony between the two bosses only serves to make this contest even more competitive. With Chelsea boss Antonio Conte likely on the way out, it appears that Mourinho will have the finer edge for this blockbuster match, and thus we’re pegging him to guide his side to victory.
Also, the Portugese has a tremendous track record in contests such as these. He’s won 12 of 14 cup finals since claiming the UEFA Cup with Porto in 2003.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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