The FA Cup semi-finals, scheduled for today and tomorrow at Wembley, take pride of place in the English game this weekend.

Two London sides are again in the line-up as happened last year when Arsenal and Chelsea reached the last four. Chelsea have made it to the semi-finals yet again. This time, they have been joined by Tottenham.

Another team from the south, Portsmouth, are also in the semis along with Aston Villa, of the Midlands. Quite surprisingly this season, there is no team from the north of the country.

While Chelsea, the FA Cup holders, have made it to the semi-finals in five of the last ten seasons, Tottenham did it on two occasions. Both Villa and Portsmouth reached this stage once in the last ten years.

This afternoon Villa play Chelsea and Tottenham cross swords with Portsmouth tomorrow. An all-London showdown is in prospect on May 15, a first since 2002 when Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-0.

Also, like last season, the four clubs remaining in the competition are all from the Premier League.

Chelsea, who beat Everton to lift the FA Cup last year, are currently on top in the Premier League and in line for a double.

In the Premier League this season, Chelsea thumped Aston Villa 7-1 (Lampard 4, Malouda 2, Kalou − Carew) two weeks ago but earlier in the campaign, the Clarets won 2-1 (Dunne, Collins − Drogba).

Chelsea were managed by Guus Hiddink last season and went on to claim the coveted prize at his first go. The same feat can be repeated since Chelsea are under the stewardship of Carlo Ancelotti who is in his debut season in England.

The only time Portsmouth won the silverware, in 2008 (beat Cardiff 1-0) they were managed by Harry Redknapp, now at Tottenham's helm.

In the Premier League this term, the Spurs made a double on Pompey − away 2-1 (Defoe, King − Boateng); home 2-0 (Crouch, Kranjcar).

This season, Villa had also reached the League Cup final, losing 1-2 (Milner pen − Owen, Rooney) to Manchester United.

Villa manager Martin O'Neill could become a casualty at the end of the season, him being at loggerheads with club owner Randolph Lerner.

Since Portsmouth became the first Premier club to go into administration and had nine points deducted, they will not be allowed to play in Europe if they win the FA Cup.

Previous Rounds

Aston Villa: Reading (away) 4-2; Crystal Palace (away) 2-2 (home) 3-1; Brighton (home) 3-2; Blackburn (home) 3-1.

Chelsea: Stoke (home) 2-0; Cardiff (home) 4-1; Preston (away) 2-0; Watford (home) 5-0.

Portsmouth: Birmingham (home) 2-0; Southampton (away) 4-1; Sunderland (home) 2-1; Coventry (home) 1-1, (away) 2-1.

Tottenham: Fulham (away) 0-0 (home) 3-1; Bolton (away) 1-1, (home) 4-0; Leeds (home) 2-2, (away) 3-1; Peterborough (home) 4-0.

Statistics

This will be Aston Villa's 20th semi-final and Chelsea will be making their 19th appearance. Tottenham, considered as perrennial cup fighters, made it to the last four for the 18th time and Portsmouth seven.

Aston Villa went on to play in ten finals and Chelsea and Tottenham nine. Spurs have a remarkable record of losing only one final (to Coventry in 1987) from nine while Villa have won the FA Cup seven times from ten finals.

Chelsea won more than half their final appearances, six from nine. Portsmouth emerged victorious on only one occasion. Chelsea were the first club to triumph at the 'new' Wembley.

Head To Head

In past FA Cup encounters, Aston Villa lead Chelsea 5-2 with one of these ties going into a replay. The last time they met was in the final of 1999-00, with Chelsea emerging victorious with a goal from Italian Roberto Di Matteo (now manager at West Brom).

The other six ties resulted as follows:

1986-87 (third round): Villa-Chelsea 2-2.

Replay: Blues at home 2-1.

1959-60 (fourth round): Chelsea-Villa 1-2.

1958-59 (fourth round): Chelsea-Villa 1-2.

1945-46 (fifth round, 1st leg): Chelsea-Villa 0-1.

1945-46 (fifth round, 2nd leg): Villa-Chelsea 1-0.

1919-20 (semi-final, Bramall Lane): Villa-Chelsea 3-1.

The two victories by the Londoners came in the final at Wembley and in the replay of 1987.

Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth met on three occasions and they were all won by the Lilywhites as follows:

1990-91 (fifth round): Pompey-Spurs 1-2.

1966-67 (fourth round): Spurs-Pompey 3-1.

1936-37 (third round): Pompey-Spurs 0-5.