Manchester: Manchester City and Chelsea can make up for unfulfilling campaigns in the Premier League by winning their FA Cup semi-final on Sunday and installing themselves as heavy favorites to lift the old trophy next month.
City's 2-1 league win at Old Trafford on Monday is unlikely to trigger a meltdown by Manchester United, which holds a commanding 12-point lead over its neighbor with just seven games left. In fact, City and third-place Chelsea have already conceded the title. It makes their meeting at Wembley Stadium all the more pivotal, especially since the winner will take on Premier League struggler Wigan or second-tier Millwall in the final.
Some are even describing the City-Chelsea fixture as the "unofficial final."
"We are aware people are saying our semifinal is going to be 'The Final,'" City defender Pablo Zabaleta said, "but that is disrespectful to Millwall and Wigan. Nobody wins a trophy for winning a semi.
"The same thing happened when we played United in 2011 because Bolton and Stoke were in the other game. We need to beat Chelsea and then we can think about who we will play."
Buoyed by its derby win, City should also be the fresher team for the game as Chelsea faces a grueling return trip from Russia after taking on Rubin Kazan in the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday.
Millwall, which reached the FA Cup final in 2004 when in the second tier only to lose 3-0 to United, plays Wigan in the other semi on Saturday.
It will be a bittersweet moment for Wigan chairman Dave Whelan, whose career was ruined at the age of 23 when he broke his leg at Wembley in the FA Cup final in 1960. Whelan, now a successful businessman running his own sports clothing and equipment chain, will lead his team out onto the pitch this weekend.
"The chairman's put so much into the club and for him to lead us out is going to be a great day for the club," Wigan defender Emmerson Boyce said.
"I don't think anyone around here has got a bad word to say about him - he comes into the changing room, he's always positive, always tries to encourage you, and he always tells us to enjoy football because of what happened to his career. I know it's going to be a proud moment for him."
The winner of the first semifinal will likely book a place in the Europa League next season, with City and Chelsea expected to qualify for the Champions League courtesy of their league placings. The FA Cup final is on May 11.
Away from Wembley, United will look to bury the memory of its sobering loss to City and get back on course for an early wrap-up of the Premier League title by beating relegation-haunted Stoke on Sunday.
A win at Britannia Stadium will restore the 15-point gap between City and Alex Ferguson's side and help silence the critics who say United isn't as good as its sizeable cushion at the top suggests.
"I hear a lot of people talking about us, saying we didn't deserve the 15-point lead," United defender Patrice Evra. "But if we are here, it is because we are working hard and we deserve to win this title.
"We have to make sure we win at Stoke on Sunday and show we are the best team in England."
A perennial mid-table finisher, Stoke has been dragged into the relegation dogfight this season with opponents appearing to have found a way to combat the direct, long-ball tactics of Tony Pulis' powerful side.
Stoke is 15th, three points and three places above the relegation zone. The bottom two of Reading, which hosts Liverpool, and Queens Park Rangers, which visits Everton, look doomed so there appears to be one relegation place remaining.
Sunderland is level on points with third-to-last Wigan ahead of Sunday's northeast derby against Newcastle, which requires one more win to virtually ensure its safety. It will be Paolo Di Canio's first home match in charge of Sunderland.
The other sides fighting the drop are Aston Villa, which is home to Fulham, and Norwich, which visits Arsenal. Arsenal will climb above Chelsea and Tottenham into third place with a victory, as its London rivals are inactive in the league this weekend.
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