Fixtures
- Aston Villa Vs. Chelsea – Wed, Feb 7th 2024, 20:00
At A Glance
Aston Villa host Chelsea in their FA Cup fourth-round replay with a place in the last 16 of the competition the prize on offer.
The two sides will do battle again after a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge, with extra-time and penalties a possibility, if required, to find a winner and a fifth-round home tie against Leeds United.
Since meeting 12 days ago in the initial encounter, Villa lost to Newcastle United before brushing aside Sheffield United 5-0 at the weekend.
Chelsea, Carabao Cup finalists, go into the clash on the back of successive defeats to Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Seven places and 15 points separate the two sides in the Premier League table, while Villa triumphed 1-0 in their September meeting courtesy of Ollie Watkins’ second-half strike.
Standout Stats
The Villans are aiming to make the fifth round for the first time since 2014/15, when they finished runners-up to Arsenal following defeat in the Wembley final.
Villa have won the world’s oldest domestic cup competition seven times compared to Chelsea’s eight.
Chelsea reached three successive FA Cup finals between 2020-2022, suffering defeat on each occasion, and have reached the final five times in the last seven years, lifting the trophy once.
Villa saw off Middlesbrough 1-0 to reach the fourth round while Mauricio Pochettino’s side progressed past Preston North End 4-0.
The two teams met in the 2000 FA Cup final, the last to be played at the old Wembley before reconstruction work began, with Chelsea emerging victorious 1-0.
Unai Emery’s in-form side have lost just two of their last 17 matches in all competitions and have kept four clean sheets in their previous five.
The Villans are unbeaten in their last three meetings with Chelsea, although the London outfit have won five of the previous six encounters at Villa Park.
The Last Meeting
Villa played out a goalless draw with Chelsea in their first meeting at Stamford Bridge.
A pulsating first half saw Douglas Luiz’s 12th-minute goal disallowed for handball after a VAR check before Emi Martínez took centre stage.
The goalkeeper made two fine saves when one-on-one with Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke before denying the latter again with a spectacular reflex stop.
Palmer spurned two further chances for the Blues in the second half, but it was Villa who provided the greater attacking threat as Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa and John McGinn all came close to finding a winner.
Team News
Defender Ezri Konsa has been ruled out for around 3-4 weeks having sustained a knee injury during the second half of Saturday’s emphatic victory at Bramall Lane.
Fellow defender Pau Torres will return to the bench while Nicolò Zaniolo is also back to full fitness, although Lucas Digne and Jhon Durán remain unavailable.
They join long-term absentees Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendía on the sidelines.
The Boss
“I expect a good Chelsea. We drew there but we struggled in the first half a lot, they were better than us. Progressively in the second half we were imposing our ideas, our gameplan, and we had chances as well to score and to win. But we didn’t deserve it. And they deserved more in the first half, it was a fantastic job by Emi Martínez, and defensively as well the team worked very well. I expect the best Chelsea because they got to the Carabao Cup final. For them, this competition is very important as well because they are not in Europe. And they have a very good coach.” – Unai Emery
