Favourites can surmount hurdle for final showpiece

Since the new Wembley was made available for the FA Cup final, those teams still in the reckoning have made an extra effort to be there on Saturday, May 19.

Now that we've reached the semi-finals stage, the four teams still in the running will cover every blade of grass to be present for the magical showdown even if Chelsea and Man. United are by far the favourites to reach the final at the expense of Blackburn Rovers and Watford respectively.

Many think the two semi-finals are merely a formality for Chelsea and United before the new Wembley stages the showcase final. However, nothing is certain in football and the FA Cup can also continue with its romance and produce another giant-killing act.

This afternoon at Villa Park, United clash with Watford in a rich-and-rags confrontation. United are vying for the championship crown but their opponents are trying hard to escape relegation after just one season in the top flight.

Yet, this looks like an impossible dream for Adrian Boothroyd's XI. The entire length of the Premiership classification stands between leaders United and bottom-placed Watford at present.

In tomorrow's other semi-final at Old Trafford, Chelsea cross swords with Blackburn Rovers.

Incidentally, the four teams involved would have met in this weekend's league fixtures as well but not as they line up in the FA Cup... Chelsea vs Man. United and Blackburn vs Watford.

Pierced once

The non-fancied Blackburn and Watford have conceded only one goal on their way to the semi-finals while United let in one in every tie they played.

Blackburn: Everton (away) 4-1, Luton (away) 4-0, Arsenal (away) 0-0 replay (home) 1-0, Manchester City (away) 2-0. Blackburn Rovers have mainly been on the away front and netted a tally of 11 goals.

Chelsea: Macclesfield (home) 6-1, N. Forest (home) 3-0, Norwich (home) 4-0, Tottenham (home) 3-3 (replay) 2-1. Chelsea, who have scored 18 goals so far, played all their ties at home this season.

Manchester United: Aston Villa (home) 2-1, Portsmouth (home) 2-1, Reading (home) 1-1 (replay) 3-2, Middlesbrough (away) 2-2 (replay) 1-0. Man. United were involved in two replays and scored 11 goals.

Watford: Stockport (home) 4-1, West Ham (away) 1-0, Ipswich (home) 1-0, Plymouth (away) 1-0.

No replays for the Hornets who have netted seven goals.

Statistics...

• This will be Manchester United's 25th semi-final (on par with Arsenal at the top of all-time list) and Watford's fifth.

• Blackburn will be appearing in the last four for the 18th time and Chelsea for the 17th.

• Man. United figured in 17 finals (top along with Arsenal) that produced 11 (best) FA Cup wins. Their rivals, the Hornets, have reached this milestone only once and still have to lift the silverware.

• Blackburn progressed to eight finals emerging victorious six times. Chelsea made it to the ultimate showdown on seven occasions and won three FA Cups.

• Man. United will be keen to add to their record of 12 successive FA Cup semi-finals without defeat that started in 1975-76. Their last semi-final upset came in 1969-70 against Leeds: 0-0 (Hillsborough), replay 0-0 (Villa Park), second replay 0-1 (Burnden Park, Bolton).

Head to head...

This season's direct encounters read (where not denoted clash came in the Premiership):

August 26: Watford-United 1-2 (Francis - Silvestre, Giggs).

August 27: Rovers-Blues 0-2 (Lampard pen, Drogba).

October 25 (League Cup third round): Rovers-Blues 0-2 (J. Cole, Kalou).

January 31: Blues-Rovers 3-0 (Drogba, Lampard, Kalou).

January 31: United-Watford 4-0 (Ronaldo pen, Doyley og, Larsson, Rooney).

Past FA cup duels...

United lead Watford 3-1...

January 2, 1982 (third round): Watford-United 1-0.

April 10, 1970 (third-place decider): United-Watford 2-0.

January 25, 1969 (fourth round): United-Watford 1-1.

March 2, 1969 (replay): Watford-United 0-2.

January 28, 1950 (fourth round): Watford-United 0-1.

Blackburn lead Chelsea 2-1...

January 6, 1984 (third round): Rovers-Blues 1-0.

February 14, 1931 (fifth round): Blues-Rovers 3-0.

February 6, 1909 (second round): Rovers-Blues 2-0.

Brilliant United

Manchester United showed their true mettle in midweek as they annihilated Roma 7-1 in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Old Trafford.

After the match, Alex Ferguson told reporters that United had some great players during his 20 years in management and that Cristiano Ronaldo was up there with the best of them.

Watford's goalkeeper Ben Foster, on loan from Manchester United, will not play for Watford today since the Londoners are playing against the club that owns his contract.

This week, Watford were boosted by their biggest Premiership win following the 4-2 victory over Portsmouth at Vicarage Road.

Football is indeed a funny game. The previous Saturday, Pompey had just beaten leaders Manchester United 2-1 at Fratton Park for a memorable win.

On Tuesday, Chelsea progressed to the last four of the Champions League with a significant 2-1 triumph in Valencia.

Andriy Shevchenko said he dearly wants to play at the new Wembley after previous visits with Dynamo Kiev against Arsenal and with the Ukraine national side.

Blackburn have lost their last three encounters in the Premiership and their chances of a UEFA Cup place are now slim.

Rovers are now fully focused on the FA Cup semi-final.

What must have pleased boss Mark Hughes was that Blackburn were not involved in the Easter Monday Premiership programme.