Manchester City vs. Chelsea: 3 Players to Watch in FA Youth Cup Final

They may be out of the Premier League title race, but Manchester City still have a chance to get one over on Chelsea this season.

Both clubs are set to come together in the FA Youth Cup final, with the first leg being held at City's Academy Stadium on Monday, 20 April.

Chelsea are favourites to lift the cup for a fourth time in six years, continuing their dominance in the competition.

Like their first team, however, City have some talented stars within their ranks, and they will be confident of preventing Chelsea from retaining the trophy they last won by defeating west London neighbours Fulham in the final.

Incidentally, the last time City got this far in the FA Youth Cup was back in 2008. That year, they faced Chelsea, beating them 4-2 on aggregate to be crowned champions.

A certain Daniel Sturridge featured for City that season and has since gone on to enjoy a fine career.

Who could emulate him? Bleacher Report highlights three players to look out for.

Jay Dasilva

Jay Dasilva is only 16 years old, but the young left-back is already getting a reputation.

After Chelsea's victory in the UEFA Youth League, former Arsenal striker Ian Wright was dishing about the praise.

Wright took to Twitter to label Dasilva as a better player than many of the left-backs we see on a weekly basis in the Premier League.

"

Congrats to Chelsea winning UEFA youth league. Jay da silva left back better player than any current prem left back. pic.twitter.com/0Zla6mMbjN

— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) April 14, 2015"

He has plenty to do before he can live up to that billing, but Dasilva is making all the right noises.

Indeed, he seems to be on Jose Mourinho's radar too; the Chelsea boss frequently fielded him in pre-season while the more senior stars were on international duty at last summer's World Cup.

Dasilva was part of the side that won the FA Youth Cup last season, and given he only turns 17 on April 22—two days after the first leg of the final with Manchester City—he will be young enough to continue at this level for another two years.

If he continues as he has been, however, it's unlikely that will happen.

Dasilva can be seen in action in the YouTube clip above from the second leg of Chelsea's FA Youth Cup semi-final with Tottenham Hotspur.

Brandon Barker

Brandon Barker has been a big part of Manchester City's success at youth level this season, playing a starring role in their 5-1 aggregate victory over Leicester City in the semi-final.

He's also been a presence in the UEFA Youth League and was among Bleacher Report's Top 50 prospects from the competition.

Sam Tighe collated that list and had this to say about the youngster: "Barker's style of play on the wing harks back to the olden days, as he simply beats his man and crosses the ball with accuracy."

Playing on the left, he'll be coming up Ola Aina, who could be in for a busy night at the Academy Stadium on Monday.

Izzy Brown

We've heard a lot about Izzy Brown since he joined Chelsea from West Bromwich Albion two years ago.

He's now beginning to show signs of delivering on that potential, marking himself as one of Chelsea's most exciting young prospects.

Brown was influential in getting Chelsea to the FA Youth Cup final, playing a starring role as the Blues overturned a three-goal aggregate deficit against Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-final.

He scored one and got two assists in the second leg at Stamford Bridge, while he more recently bagged a brace in the UEFA Youth League final to help Chelsea secure the trophy.

What impressed most about Brown's performance that day was the fact that he had been sat on the bench for the first team's 1-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers just 24 hours earlier.

He had to travel back to Switzerland straight after that game, but it didn't affect his performance against Shakhtar Donetsk in the slightest.

It all hints at Brown coming of age and developing into a fine professional.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes