Chelsea: Four things to look for in the FA Cup semifinal vs Man United

4. Kepa vs. De Gea: A war of attrition

By almost every metric, Kepa Arrizabalaga is one of the worst goalkeepers in the Premier League. My favorite stat is shots saved, where he is last the league by a mile, at 56.5 percent, where Jordan Pickford is second to last at 63.3 percent. Just atrocious, really.

David De Gea is seen a bit more favorably by the statisticians, but he’s been developing a penchant for cataclysmic boondoggles over the past few seasons. Soft wrists, poor positioning and generally slow reactions have led to some absolute howlers from Manchester United’s keeper. Could the same thing be said for Chelsea’s own Spanish shot-stopper (to use the term liberally)? Yes, but at least he has the presence of mind to make it look like he really tried his hardest.

So, this match features a face-off between a generally underwhelming keeper and a good keeper who makes unfathomably stupid errors. Which problematic No. 1 will be the least problematic on Sunday?

Given the red-hot form of Manchester United’s attacking trio, Arrizabalaga will presumably be under pressure more often. To a certain degree, this might be a good thing. Chelsea’s worst mistakes come when the team’s been dominating and is randomly hit with a sucker punch. United will be throwing punches all day, so Arrizabalaga should be kept on high alert for the whole 90 minutes. Maybe his issue all along has just been boredom and a poor attention span. A full match of stimulation and action might coax out a blinder from the world’s most expensive goalkeeper.

Chelsea, while not as free-scoring as its opposition at the moment, does take quite a few shots, second only to Manchester City in the Premier League. The best way to force a hilarious error from De Gea will be by testing him from all angles and distances, which is well within Chelsea’s usual M.O. under Frank Lampard. It may be bias, in fact it almost certainly is, but the Blues seem to bring out goalkeepers’ best performances, possibly because they take lots of shots that are relatively easy to save. Against De Gea, however, those savable shots could very well slip between his gloves or legs and end up as the deciding goal to send Chelsea through to the final.

No matter who wins on Sunday, there is one undeniable loser: Spain. They have the unenviable task of trying to choose one of these hapless keepers to represent them at Euro “2020” next summer. If rumors are to be believed, this may be the last time we watch them compete on the same pitch.

What are the things you’ll be looking for in the match? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!