🏆 All eyes on Wembley as Leicester and Chelsea do battle for FA Cup | OneFootball

What used to be the biggest Saturday of the season has been demoted somewhat over recent years.

Try telling that to Leicester fans who will see their side in the final of the FA Cup for the first time since Apollo 11 exited the earth’s orbit.

It was 1969 the last time the Foxes got to an FA Cup final and it’s no exaggeration to say that manager Brendan Rodgers has taken this side on a giant leap in their development.

Since his arrival in February 2019, the east Midlands outfit have reached new levels of consistency, regularly fighting for a top four finish and reaching the latter stages of the Europa League.

That has in large part been down to the manager and his methods, an exceptional squad built not on huge names, but clever, considered reasoning and an ownership that has built from the bottom up, not the top down.

It’s going to be an especially poignant day for the Srivaddhanaprabha family whose patriarch Vichai was killed in a helicopter crash just under three years ago.

“I’d love to win it for Khun Vichai and his family. His spirit will be there with us on the day,” Rodgers told a news conference ahead of the game.

“One of the reasons I came was because of them and the cause the club has. I would love to do it for the supporters and the players, but if I had to pick one, I’d say [current chairman] Top and his family.”

Khun Vichai’s presence might be keenly felt at Wembley on Saturday but one man who’s command of the Leicester side is still to be determined is Jonny Evans.

The criminally underrated centre-back has been missing for the Foxes last two games and is in a race against time to be fit here.

Without him, Leicester’s defence looks a lot less formidable and will be facing a Chelsea attack that seemed to have found a groove (pre-Arsenal, of course).

It seems that coach Thomas Tuchel will go with Kai Havertz as the false nine while Mason Mount and Timo Werner will be deployed either side of the former Bayer Leverkusen man.

It was a combination that worked so well in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid and will surely be deployed here, especially with Leicester wing-backs Ricardo Pereira and Timothy Castagne bombing forward and leaving ample space in behind.

Whatever happens on Saturday, this is exactly what an FA Cup final should be. Two excellent sides, playing football the right way, with two managers who are desperate for silverware, helming evenly-matched teams at a stadium holding fans.

We can’t wait.