Aston Villa vs Chelsea LIVE Commentary: Pochettino under pressure as Blues face tough test in FA Cup replay: Kick-off time, team news and how to follow
Chelsea are under increasing pressure to avoid a full-blown crisis when they return to FA Cup action to face Aston Villa this week.
The Blues were defeated 4-2 by the Wolves on Sunday. suffer successive defeats in the Premier League in a week, which left them in the bottom half of the table.
Mauricio Pochettino will now be desperate to keep the club's FA Cup dream alive, or else the Carabao Cup It remains their only chance to win a trophy this season.
High-flying Villa battled to a goalless draw when these two teams met in the opening clash of the fourth round, but prepared for the second leg with a 5-0 win over Sheffield United.
The winner of the replay will book a favorable home fixture against Leeds or Plymouth Argyle in the fifth round.
Aston Villa vs Chelsea: Poch under pressure
Pochettino should console himself with ChelseaThe impressive record in FA Cup replays, with the club progressing in eight of their last nine.
His only elimination in this race was against Everton in the 2010/11 season, but curiously that also came in an away game on matchday four.
The defeat also meant that the then coach carlo anceloti He finished the campaign without a trophy, which ultimately led to his departure.
Pochettino knows that success in the national cups is the only chance Chelsea has this season to win titles like enters a critical month.
The Argentine has been Blues manager for seven months and officially arrived on July 1, 2023, a notorious milestone for underperforming managers at Stamford Bridge.
Rafael Benitez, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Andre Villas-Boasand Chelsea's last permanent coach before Pochettino, Graham PotterThey were ALL fired seven months after beginning their reigns.
And with Chelsea involved in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool At the end of February, Pochettino could end his seventh month confirming another trophyless season if the results go against his team.
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- Chelsea lost 4-0 against Manchester City in their last FA Cup away game (third round last season). They have not lost consecutive away games in the competition since February 2004 (v Arsenal) and February 2005 (v Newcastle).
- Chelsea have progressed in eight of their last nine FA Cup replays, this being their first since the third round of the 2017-18 season against Norwich. Their only elimination in this streak was against Everton in 2010-11 (fourth round).
Aston Villa vs Chelsea: What has been said?
“We can't hide,” Chelsea vice-captain Ben Chilwell he said after the Wolves loss. “It wasn't good enough.
“We started well and got the goal (through Cole Palmer) but then we conceded almost straight away and then it wasn’t good enough for about 70 minutes of the game.
“I think they showed that they 'wanted it' more than us. That's not to say we didn't want it, but I think they just showed a little more fight than we did.
“There are no excuses, but they seemed to win more duels, they seemed to run more than us and since they scored the first goal, they seemed to dominate.
“As I said, there can be no excuses for this and we must fix it quickly.”
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- Aston Villa have lost each of their last five FA Cup home games. The last team in England's top four categories to lose more consecutive times at home was Rotherham United (seven between 2002 and 2008).
- Chelsea were eliminated in their first four FA Cup ties against Aston Villa, but have since overcome their last three, two of them at Wembley (1-0 in the 1999-00 final, 3-0 in the semi-final 2009-10). .
- Aston Villa have kept a clean sheet in each of their last three meetings with Chelsea in all competitions, more than in the previous 26 against them (2). They have never gone four in a row without conceding a goal against the Blues.
Aston Villa vs Chelsea: team news
Villa's new signing Morgan Rogers is cup-tied and so cannot alleviate the home side's growing injury concerns.
Pau Torres, Lucas Digneand Nicolo Zaniolo are sidelined along with long-term absent trio Emi Buendia, Tyrone Mingsand Jhon Durán.
Chelsea also have an extensive injury list, led by the captain. James Reece and goalkeeper Robert Sánchez.
Lesley Ugochukwu, Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurellaand Romeo Lavia are out, but both Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah I could come back.
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Aston Villa vs Chelsea: talkSPORT coverage
This Premier League clash will take place on Wednesday, February 7.
talkSPORT will have live coverage from Villa Park, with kick-off scheduled for 8pm
Adrian Durham will be your presenter, while commentary comes from Jim Proudfoot and former city of manchester manager Stuart Pearce.
talkSPORT.com will also be publishing a live blog to cover all the action.
