Chelsea will be looking to avoid another elimination at this stage when they host Preston North End in the FA Cup. This is the first meeting between the two teams since the FA Cup fourth round in January 2010, when the Blues defeated the Lilywhites 2-0 at Deepdale.
Preview (Chelsea vs. Preston North End)
Chelsea finished the previous year with four victories in their final five games in all competitions. It included a 3-2 Premier League victory against Luton Town, so they went into 2024 in high spirits. The Blues’ standout player, Cole Palmer, scored twice and assisted on Noni Madueke’s second goal. However, the West Londoners nearly let slip a commanding lead as Luton made a valiant comeback. They scored twice in the last ten minutes but to no avail.
Chelsea is now just three points behind Brighton & Hove Albion in seventh place in the Premier League. They managed to hold on for a significant victory as all four of the clubs above them dropped points. Mauricio Pochettino’s team is still ranked tenth in the league. Chelsea’s next matchups are back-to-back cup matches against Championship opponents. On Tuesday. They travel to Middlesbrough for the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final, while on Saturday, they play Preston in the FA Cup third round. Chelsea has defeated Preston in nine of their previous 15 meetings across all competitions.
After losing handily 4-0 to eventual winners Manchester City in the previous season, Chelsea were knocked out in the FA Cup third round for the first time in twenty-five years; their last two straight eliminations from the competition occurred in 1978–79 and 1980–81. But the Blues will be optimistic about winning on Saturday. Since losing 4-2 at home to League Two side Bradford City in 2014–15, they have advanced from each of their past 18 FA Cup matches against opponents from lower leagues. Preston had a terrible end to 2023—they lost three of their final four games—and they began 2024 with another loss to Sunderland, in sharp contrast to Chelsea’s miserable play.
Team News
Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Trevoh Chalobah, Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana, Robert Sanchez, Carney Chukwuemeka, Marc Cucurella, and Lesley Ugochukwu are among Chelsea’s long list of injured players. Nicolas Jackson is also out due to his selection for the Senegal squad for the Africa Cup of Nations. After recovering from a hernia problem, Enzo Fernandez came on as a second-half substitute against Luton. If Pochettino decides to rest one of Moises Caicedo or Conor Gallagher on Saturday, the midfielder might start.
Christopher Nkunku, Raheem Sterling, and Mykhaylo Mudryk will all be vying to start in attack. Academy graduate Alfie Gilchrist is in line to make his first appearance for the Blues after making two brief cameos. The sole injury concern for Preston is winger Robbie Brady. He has missed the last three games due to an undisclosed issue and is uncertain. Lowe may stick with his more comfortable back three this weekend after using a four-man backline the previous weekend. Brad Potts and Liam Millar play as wing-backs, while Liam Lindsay, Jordan Storey, and Andrew Hughes are all likely to start at center-back.
While top scorer Will Keane, who has six goals this season, will compete with Ched Evans, Militim Osmajic, and Emil Riis Jakobsen—who recently made a full recovery from a long-term knee injury—for a start in attack, Ryan Ledson may be called up in midfield at the cost of Mads Frokjaer-Jensen.
Chelsea 2-0 Preston North End
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