Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea side will discover their potential FA Cup fifth round opponents when the draw for the next stage of the competition is made on Sunday afternoon. In fourth round action on Friday night at Stamford Bridge, the Blues and Aston Villa played out a 0-0 draw in west London and a replay will now be needed to decide the winners of the tie.
Although there is not an official date in the diary for the FA Cup fixture just yet, the game at Villa Park will be played week commencing Monday, February 5. It will be a very tough ask for Chelsea to triumph in the Midlands considering Unai Emery’s team are unbeaten at home in the league this campaign having won nine and drawn one of their ten fixtures.
Chelsea are in a good run of form at the moment, though, and they will be hoping that continues at Aston Villa as they target a second domestic cup final this season. Chelsea and Aston Villa will know their potential FA Cup fifth round opponents going into their replay, with the draw taking place on Sunday afternoon from around 2pm before Liverpool and Norwich City go head-to-head at Anfield.
Chelsea and Villa are ball No.8 in the draw and both sides will be hoping that luck is on their side as they aim to go all the way and triumph at Wembley at the end of May. So what exactly would be the best and worst case scenarios for Chelsea in round four? Soccerhuz.com takes a look below.
Best case scenario
Coming up against one of the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition would undoubtedly be the best case scenario for Pochettino and Chelsea. National League South side Maidstone are the lowest ranked team left in the FA Cup by quite some distance considering they play in England’s sixth tier.
George Elokobi’s men pulled off a huge giant-killing on Saturday afternoon after an incredible 2-1 win away at Ipswich Town, who are currently second in the Championship table. As a result of their triumph at Portman Road, Maidstone became the first sixth-tier or lower side to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup since Blyth Spartans back in 1978.
The Stones will now be targeting a Premier League opponent having previously missed out on one in both the third and fourth rounds. While of course it would be considered a favourable draw for Chelsea, it would be better if they were drawn at home considering that Maidstone play on an artificial pitch at Gallagher Stadium.
As well as a possible draw against Maidstone, the winners of the ties between Blackburn Rovers and Wrexham, Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry City or Bristol City and Nottingham Forest would be viewed as ideal scenarios in the fifth round.
Worst case scenario
The worst case scenario for Chelsea would obviously be an away draw against one of the Premier League’s top two. Current holders Man City are guaranteed of a place in the fifth round after achieving a late 1-0 win away at Tottenham on Friday evening.
Pep Guardiola’s team look like they are about to go up another level or two now that Kevin De Bruyne is back to full fitness and Erling Haaland will be making his comeback from injury very soon. No team will want to be paired against City when the draw is made on Sunday.
The same goes for Liverpool after a tremendous start to the season. Facing Norwich City at Anfield in the 2.30pm kick-off on Sunday, the Reds are odds-on favourites to prevail against the Canaries.
Following the news that Jurgen Klopp is to leave his position as Liverpool head coach at the end of the season, many believe he will take his side all the way to the final at Wembley in what would be his final game in charge of the club
