Chelsea entertain Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge in the Fourth Round of 2023-24 FA Cup.
Victory would see Chelsea reach the last 16 for the eighth time in nine seasons, whilst Villa chase a first appearance in the Fifth Round since they finished runners-up in 2014-15 season.
Team News
Chelsea have no fresh injury concerns to report after their Carabao Cup victory against Middlesbrough in midweek.
Marc Cucurella (ankle), Malo Gusto (unspecified), Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James, Lesley Ugochukwu (both hamstring), Wesley Fofana (ACL), Romeo Lavia (knock), Robert Sanchez (knee), Nicolas Jackson (international) and Christopher Nkunku (hip) remain ruled out.
Villa could welcome defender, Pau Torres back into contention following his recovery from an ankle injury which forced him to miss their last two matches.
Jhon Duran is ruled out after he suffered a hamstring injury during Villa’s goalless draw at Everton prior to their Premier League winter break.
Robin Olsen (knock) and Jacob Ramsey (hamstring) could also feature but Lucas Digne (hamstring) won’t be risked unless he is declared available for selection.
Tyrone Mings (knee), Bertrand Traore (international duty) and Emiliano Buendia (ACL) remain ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Chelsea host Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Friday 26 January at 7:45pm GMT, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea have avoided defeat in four of nine previous FA Cup meetings against Aston Villa across seven seaparate ties (W3, D1, L5).
- Aston Villa have won three of four previous FA Cup ties away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (W3, L1).
- Each of Chelsea’s last three FA Cup meetings against Villa played at Stamford Bridge have ended in a 2-1 result, with the Blues losing two of those three ties.
- Villa have kept clean sheets in their last two visits to Chelsea which both ended in away victories (W2), albeit both came in the Premier League.
- Chelsea have won four of their last five FA Cup ties at home to Premier League opposition (W4, L1), except for a 2-0 loss to Manchester United in February 2019.
- Villa are yet to win a proper away tie to Premier League opposition in the FA Cup this century (D1, L7) – excluding ties played at a neutral venue.
Prediction
Although their second leg comeback triumph over Middlesbrough in their Carabao Cup semi-final was ruthlessly dominant, this match will be a huge test of whether Chelsea’s up-turn in performance is genuine or if it was a case of quality outclassing second-tier opposition.
Villa meanwhile had their own end product issues in their last outing as they stuttered to a goalless draw at Everton, where they dominated but just lacked that final touch to beat Jordan Pickford so I hope that they can quickly rediscover their attacking spark and start scoring again.
Either way this match should be very close if Chelsea can replicate their clinical midweek display but Villa will pose tougher opposition with a fitness advantage, so I do expect them to take the fight to the Blues given that they have won with clean sheets in their last two visits.
A draw therefore might be a fair outcome especially if Mauricio Pochettino rotates his Chelsea squad and Villa make their freshness count.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-1 Aston Villa
Result: Chelsea 0-0 Aston Villa
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