Chelsea’s 2021/22 FA Cup journey gets underway at Stamford Bridge as they entertain non-league outfit Chesterfield in a seemingly straightforward third-round tie.
Chelsea swept bitter cross-town rivals Tottenham Hotspur aside with a comfortable 2-0 home triumph in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie last time out to end a run of back-to-back scoring draws in all competitions. Thomas Tuchel’s men have picked up the pace following a 3-2 Premier League defeat at West Ham United in early December, going unbeaten in their last nine competitive matches since (W4, D5). What’s more, the reigning Champions League holders have only lost once at home in competitive action this season, courtesy of a 1-0 reverse at the hands of Manchester City in late September. Since going down to Pep Guardiola’s side, the ‘Blues’ have gone undefeated in 12 home fixtures in a row (W7, D5), netting 2+ goals in 58% of those games.
Meanwhile, Chesterfield eked out a narrow 1-0 home win over fellow National League rivals King’s Lynn to get the new calendar year off to a flying start. However, the visitors will have to massively upset the odds here and replicate the feat they managed back in 1905 when they claimed a 1-0 H2H triumph, inflicting the first-ever home defeat on Chelsea in the Football League. Adding to their underdog status here, non-league Chesterfield last faced Premier League opposition in the FA Cup in 1996-97, while they’ve never won an away game against a top-flight side in the competition’s history (GP – D3, L10). However, the ‘Spireites’ will draw confidence from their solid away form, having avoided defeat in their last seven competitive matches away from home (W5, D2), with each win in this run of games coming ‘to nil.’
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