Apparently, Sunday’s Manchester United versus Chelsea clash is the FA Cup semi-final. In reality, it is much more than that with both the teams, along with Leicester City, being involved in a fascinating Premier League race for the third and fourth positions that would guarantee Champions League berths.

Just one point separates the Blues and United in the League table.

Sunday’s clash at Wembley thus will be one where both the teams will be playing to dent each other’s morale, and not just a FA Cup semi-final.

That is not saying that the FA Cup doesn’t matter for these two, silverware always does.

This is United’s 30th appearance in the semi-finals, while Chelsea have made the last four for the 10th time since the turn of the century.

Though both the teams are coming off favourable results and Chelsea are placed higher in the league table, United might just have their nose ahead for Sunday’s match given their recent form. They have won six and drawn two since the game restarted post the Covid-19 break. United, in fact, are unbeaten in 19 games across all competitions.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should be a confident man given how the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and Paul Pogba have performed of late.

Frank Lampard’s Chelsea overcame Norwich on Tuesday after a disappointing 0-3 defeat at Sheffield United last weekend. It is this inconsistency that gives United the advantage, perhaps.

And to pep up things before the big match, Solskjaer has hit back at Lampard after the latter suggested that Video Assistant Referees (VAR) have favoured United his season.

Lampard said United benefited from contentious VAR calls and poor on-pitch decisions, commenting on how a “clear and obvious decision” went their way on Thursday when Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha was fouled but no penalty was awarded.

“I can sit here for hours now and try to talk about this. It looks like there’s a narrative, it looks like people want to influence whoever is making the decisions,” Solskjaer said on Saturday.

• Manchester United vs Chelsea: Match starts, 10.30pm IST.

Leeds champs

Leeds United have won the Championship title after Brentford lost 0-1 to Stoke City on Saturday. Leeds’ promotion to the Premier League was confirmed on Friday after West Brom were beaten by Huddersfield Town.