0:
The ultimate moment of glory for the Foxes! Leicester City becomes the 44th different team in the history of the tournament to lift the FA Cup trophy.
Agony for Chelsea, Ecstasy for Leicester! The Foxes are going wild as they celebrate in style in front of their fans. It is a very very special day for the club. Brendan Rodgers is indeed a delighted man.
95' IT'S FULL TIME AT WEMBLEY! LEICESTER CITY 1-0 CHELSEA.. The Foxes win their first-ever FA Cup title and the fans are going absolutely crazy. Huge day for the club and it was a sensation Tielemans' strike that sealed the win.
93' Leicester City are playing out the final minutes quite smartly.
5 added minutes in the finals. Can Leicester hold on their narrow lead?
89' BIG MOMENT! Ben Chilwell scores an equalizer for Chelsea but VAR rules it out. A beautiful long delivery by Silva found the Blues' left-back before the ball somehow finds the back of the net. However, unfortunately for Chelsea fans, Chilwell was marginally offside.
87' ANOTHER HUGE SAVE! Leicester City's goalkeeper comes up with another brilliant save off a beautiful left-footed strike from Mason Mount.
82' A last throw of the dice by the Blues as Olivier Giroud comes in to replace Timo Werner. Meanwhile, Brendan Rodgers has introduced Hamza Chowdhury and Wes Morgan.
78' WHAT A SAVE! Ben Chilwell hits a perfect header but has been denied by a brilliant diving stop from Kasper Schmeichel. Leicester holds on to their one-goal lead.
75' Attacking changes by Thomas Tuchel as Chelsea look for an equalizer. Kai Havertz and Hudson-Odoi replace Cesar Azpilicueta and Jorginho.
67' Christian Pulisic and Ben Chilwell comes in place of Hakim Ziyech and Marcos Alonso. Meanwhile, James Maddison comes in for Leicetser in place of Kelechi Iheanacho.
63' WHAT A GOAL!!! Youri Tielemans breaks the deadlock with a brilliant long-range effort. Leicester City 1 - 0 Chelsea!
60' An hour mark reached at Wembley. Leicester City on the attack as they get a corner.
55' It's been a cautious start to the second half by both the sides. Few half chances at both ends but no clear opening at either ends.
46' The second half begins with the Blues in possession. Important 45 minutes coming up in the finals.
Half-Time at Wembley! Chelsea 0-0 Leicester
45' Wonderful looped ball by Tielemans for Jamie Vardy. The Leicester's No. 9 just couldn't find the connection he would have wanted.
44' Timo Werner dribbles past a few defender to fire in another shot at Leicester goal. The ball gets deflected for another corner where Reece James makes a mess of it.
40' Terrible tackle by Timo Werner on Luke Thomas. The German receives a yellow card by the referee.
35' Yellow card for Wesley Fofana after a poor diving challenge on Mason Mount. The first caution of the evening at Wembley.
32' INJURY CONCERN FOR LEICESTER! Jonny Evans is down on the ground and might not able to carry on. The Leicester City defender has been replaced by Marc Albrighton.
29' BIG CHANCE! Thiago Silva plays a delightful ball but Azplicueta and Werner narrowly miss to connect their headers. The opportunity goes begging for the Blues.
27' Timo Werner finds himself in some space but hits a wayward shot to the stands. Thomas Tuchel is not impressed with the effort from the German.
23' Beautiful run by Mason Mount as he takes a left-footed shot from outside the box. The ball gets deflected for another corner for Chelsea.
20' Handball by Thiago Silva outside the box. Free-kick to Leicester City at a decent position. Tielemans put in a good cross but Soyuncu heads it way above the bar.
16' First attack by Leicester. Beautiful play by Castagne down the right flank as he fires in a decent cross inside the box. Jamie Vardy fires a shot but Reece James comes up with a good block to put off the attack.
12' Youri Tielemans fould Jorginho with a rash challenge. The Leicester midfielder gets a warning from the referee.
10' The Blues are absolutely ruling the possession right now! Chelsea 77% - 23% Leicester.
6' Thomas Tuchel's side have dominated the first part of the game and are looking much brighter of the two sides. They have been awarded the first corner of the contest but the Foxes look in good defensive shape right now.
2' Good stuff from Chelsea as Hakim Ziyech finds Timo Werner with a lovely through-ball but Leicester City's defense stands firm. Exciting start to the game.
9:45 PM: The grand finale of FA Cup 2020-21 has finally kicked off with Leicester City getting the proceedings underway.
9:40 PM: The players make their way on the field and are welcomed by a huge roar by the crowd. The stadium might not be fully occupied but the fans have made sure that the atmosphere inside the stadium is absolutely sensational.
9:35 PM: The tradition FA Cup 'Abide With Me' is being performed at Wembley Stadium with the kick-off just 10 minutes away. With fans of both the sides fully geared up, the scenes in London are absolutely amazing. "Not a single dry eye inside the stadium, " the commentators echoing the heartwarming atmosphere as fans and football return to Wembley.
9:32 PM: Check out the new jersey of Cesar Azpilicueta which the Chelsea captain will be donning tonight.
9:30 PM: We are just 15 minutes away from the kick-off.
9:25 PM: Star striker Jamie Vardy has registered 15 goals and 9 assists in 39 appearances (across all competitions) this season. Having won the Premier League with the club in 2015-16, can Vardy guide his side to their first-ever FA Cup title?
9:20 PM: Chelsea's manager Thomas Tuchel (while speaking to BBC): I have had worse days in my life! It cannot get much better. I feel very grateful to arrive with a strong club and a strong team, in the most prestigious cup final maybe in the world, at least in Europe. It is quite a big day and the job is not finished, we absolutely want to win. We know it’s going to be tough but we want to get the trophy. We were angry with our performance (against Arsenal). Sometimes it is good to have a lesson to learn before a big match. We cannot get the points back, but we can show we learned the lesson, and it’s a cup final so we have to be at our very best.
9:05 PM: A loud cheer from the crowd as the players enter the field for warm-up. Leicester City have made their way in their attractive maroon-coloured training kits.
8:55 PM: Here is how the Foxes are lined-up for tonight's clash. No place for Ricardo Pereira and James Maddison in the starting line-up as Luke Thomas and Ayoze Pérez start for Leicester.
Leicester City Starting XI (3-4-3): Kasper Schmeichel; Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu, Wesley Fofana; Timothy Castagne, Luke Thomas, Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans; Ayoze Pérez, Kelechi Iheanacho, Jamie Vardy
Substitutes: Wes Morgan, James Maddison, Marc Albrighton, Danny Ward, Daniel Amartey, Hamza Choudhury, Ricardo Pereira, Nampalys Mendy, Dennis Praet
8:50 PM: The Chelsea line-up is out. As expected, Kepa keep his place at the goal. Timo Werner starts ahead of Kai Havertz at the No. 9 position for the Blues.
Chelsea Starting XI (3-4-3): Kepa Arrizabalaga (GK); Cesar Azpilicueta (C), Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger; Reece James, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Marcos Alonso; Mason Mount, Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech
Substitutes: Edouard Mendy, Ben Chilwell, Kurt Zouma, Emerson, Billy Gilmour, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Christian Pulisic, Olivier Giroud
8:45 PM: Leicester City players have arrived. Jamie Vardy, Jonny Evans, Hamza Choudhury, James Maddison - Everyone is very well suited up as they make their way inside the Wembley Stadium for the grand finale.
8:40 PM: Leicester City's defender Jonny Evans: It's a big achievement (on reaching the finals). It was a difficult path to reach. It's been a while that this club is involved in a cup final. So, it will be a great experience and it doesn't get any bigger than the FA Cup finals.
Talking about the opponents, Evans said, "We are expecting a really tough match. Chelsea look much more solid under Thomas Tuchel. It will be an interesting match-up. We will have to work very hard.”
8:35 PM: It is a significant day in English football this season as the fans have started to make their way inside the stadium. As many as 21,000 people are expected to attend the final contest between Chelsea and Leicester.
8:30 PM: The Blues are set to debut their newly-released home kit (for 2021-22 season) tonight.
8:25 PM: It is going to be the battle of defensive midfielders in tonight's clash. On one side, there will be the ever-energetic N'Golo Kante who has registered 3.4 tackles and 2.3 interceptions per each match this season (in league and cup). Meanwhile, Wilfred Ndidi has also been a force to reckon with, having registered 3.7 tackles and 2.5 interceptions per each match. With two fierce footballers going up against each other, let's see who dominates the midfield tonight!
8:15 PM: The iconic Wembley Stadium is all set to host the 140th FA Cup final.
7:30 PM: However, purely on form in the ongoing, this is likely to be the closest final in years. And the fact that a crowd of 21,000, the largest in England since COVID-19 restrictions were imposed in March 2020, will be attending will make the encounter all the more special. Less than 2 hours now for the KICK OFF!
7:20 PM: Meanwhile, recent history is also against Leicester as only two teams other than the "Big Six" have managed to win the FA Cup in the last 25 editions. Arsenal with 8, Chelsea with 7, Man Utd with 4, Man City and Liverpool with 2 FA Cups each have dominated the finals during this period. The other Big Six, Tottenham, haven't won the FA Cup since 1991. The other two teams outside of them to have lifted the FA Cup are Portsmouth in 2008 and Wigan in 2013.
7:00 PM: Although there are several clubs who have lost more finals than Leicester, they are the team with most final appearances without ever lifting the trophy. Leicester have made it to four FA Cup finals and lost them all- in 1949, 1961, 1963 and 1969. Can they finally taste success this Saturday evening?
6:45 PM: Talking about key players for this contest, Antonio Rudiger for Chelsea could be vital. In 19 league games without the defender, Chelsea have conceded 26 goals, in contrast to just seven in the 17 games he has started. Rudiger was rested for their last game against Arsenal but could be fit to take the field this evening. Apart from him, N'Golo Kante is another key man for Chelsea while the form of Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz has been happy news for the Blues fans.
From Leicester City, Jonny Evans is a key player but could have to miss out owing to an injury. Former Man City striker Iheanacho has been in sensational form lately scoring 13 goals in last 12 matches and the Foxes would hope that he along with Maddison and Tielemans in midfield can do the job for them tonight and help them to their maiden FA Cup title in their fifth final.
6:35 PM: Here is a quick glimpse at the Head to Head build up:
6:30 PM: If Tuchel has been excellent, so has been Rodgers. Leicester were 11th in the Premier League and closer to the relegation zone than the top four when Rodgers had replaced Claude Puel as the Foxes manager in February 2019. Since then Leicester City have only climbed up the ladder winning close to 60 per cent of the matches under Rodgers. They finished fifth last season and may well secure a berth in the Champions League this time around.
6:20 PM: Notably, a defeat against the same opponents proved to be former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard's last league game at the helm. However, ever since Thomas Tuchel has taken over, it's been a remarkable run for the Blues. The two teams will meet again next Tuesday in a crucial game from Champions League points of view and the result here might well be a statement of intent ahead of that match.
6:15 PM: Here is Tuchel talking about how having fans at Wembley will be a "huge boost"
6:00 PM: On the current form, there is little to choose between the two sides. Leicester are third in the Premier League, two points ahead of Chelsea as the final week of the league season approaches. In the last 10 league games, they have six wins, two draws and two defeats. On the other hand, Leicester have won five, drawn twice and lost three in their previous 10 league games. Looks like the stage is set for a blockbuster of a final at Wembley?
What makes the clash more interesting is that it will be played in front of a crowd, unlike most football since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hello and welcome to the live updates of this evening’s FA CUP final between Chelsea and Leicester City at Wembley. What a Saturday evening it promises to be for football lovers! The match is an opportunity for both the managers Thomas Tuchel and Brendan Rodgers to try to win their first trophy in English football. But while Tuchel's Chelsea are aiming to win their ninth FA Cup which would take them to third place on the all-time list behind Manchester United (12) and Arsenal (14), this is Leicester City's first FA Cup final since 1969 and they would look to win their maiden title. The titular clash is also the first time since 2007 that the Cup winner deciding game is happening between two sides which are presently in the top four of the Premier League tally, a stat suggesting this could be an evenly-contested affair.