Christian Benteke can put one over Jürgen Klopp and Vincent Kompany may prove decisive against Arsenal but what of Harry Redknapp in a Second City derby?
By Saturday night Antonio Conte will be living in a new reality. The only question is: which one? Scenario A is that his team will be well on their way to crowning his debut season in England with a domestic double. They will have secured a place in the FA Cup final and crushed the uprising of pesky Tottenham Hotspur, who will be so dispirited by the reminder of their place in the natural order of things that they will lose all belief in a title challenge and spend the rest of the season sulking and flailing at opponents, again. And then there is Scenario B, according to which Chelsea’s double hopes will have been expunged by Mauricio Pochettino’s swashbucklers, who will be infused by even more confidence and fluency after spreading more doubts in the minds of Chelsea players who were out-thought and outfought at Old Trafford last weekend. Given the form of each team going into the semi-final and Conte’s apparent belief that even a clapped-out Diego Costa is better than Michy Batshuayi, Scenario B looks more likely. Paul Doyle
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