Chelsea and Liverpool will be battling it out for the English FA Cup at the famed Wembley Stadium in London on May 5. While both teams have played below par in the Premier League this season, they’ve been doing pretty well in cup competitions. This should be the most popular online gambling event for the weekend, apart from the Kentucky derby betting of course.

Liverpool won the English League Cup (Carling Cup) back in February in a penalty shootout over Championship League team Cardiff at Wembley while Chelsea will be playing Bayern Munich in Germany on May 19 for the European Champions League trophy.

WilliamHill.com gives 11/8 (2.37) for a Chelsea win and 2/1 (3.00) for a Liverpool victory in the FA Cup final.

Chelsea’s fourth-place finish hopes were dashed on Wednesday as Newcastle came to Stamford Bridge and beat them 2-0. Liverpool continued their poor performances, especially at home, and were beaten 1-0 at Anfield by Fulham on Tuesday. Chelsea and Liverpool have met twice before this season with Liverpool winning both games.

These included a 2-1 league win at Stamford Bridge back in November and then a 2-0 win in the Carling Cup back in London about 10 days later. Ironically, the two teams were scheduled to meet on Saturday in a league game at Anfield and that has been pushed back to three days after the Cup Final. The key man for Chelsea will be striker Didier Drogba, who always seems to find the back of the net in cup finals.

Midfielder Frank Lampard will have to be on his game to feed the forwards and he’s also capable of scoring himself. In fact he’s the team’s top marksman this season. Striker Fernando Torres is finally in form for Chelsea. He scored the tying goal against Barcelona in Spain in the Champions League semi-final and then followed it up with a hat trick in a 6-1 win over Queens Park Rangers last weekend.

Dean Sturridge and Juan Mata also need to be watched carefully if they play and captain John Terry will need to defend as well as he ever has to keep the Reds at bay. With Petr Cech in goal, Chelsea still has one of the best keepers in the world.

Liverpool to rely on Suarez

Liverpool will be relying on striker Luis Suarez to lead the way up front and it’ll be interesting to see who plays up there with him. Manager Kenny Dalglish has Dirk Kuyt, Andy Carroll, and Craig Bellamy to choose from. Suarez had a hat trick in a 3-0 win over Norwich last weekend, but didn’t play against Fulham.

Midfield captain Steven Gerrard will be relied on to provide the leadership and it’s a job he does very well. He’s also a great playmaker and capable goals corer. When Liverpool are behind in a game he’s usually the man to dig them out of their hole. The problem with Gerrard these days though is that he’s injury prone. Pepe Reina’s a decent goalie, but he’s actually overrated. He’s been known to let in the odd howler over the years and will need to be at his best here.

Chelsea beat Portsmouth, QPR, Birmingham, Leicester, and Tottenham to make it to the final while Liverpool had victories over Oldham Athletic, Manchester United, Brighton and Hove Albion, Stoke City, and Everton on the way to Wembley. The winners will take home £1.8 million with the losers getting £900,000.

Our Predictions

Look for a decent game that should have a quite a few scoring in it. It should be close though and a 2-1 Chelsea win could be on the books.

Sportsbook William Hill’s latest odds show a Chelsea win at 11/8 with a Liverpool victory at 2/1 and a 90-minute draw at 9/4.

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written by Stefan \\ tags: Chelsea FC, FA Cup Final, FA CUP Preview, Liverpool FC, Liverpool v Chelsea