A place in the FA Cup fourth round will be up for grabs when Chelsea and Morecambe face off at Stamford Bridge in a third-round tie on Saturday.
The FA Cup has resumed this week with the third round, and Saturday will feature 18 games. The action on the day will begin with a trio of matches, and the middle of the afternoon will feature nine clashes, including Chelsea vs Morecambe at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea could not have asked for a worse end to the first half of the 2024/25 season, which saw the team become a dark horse in the Premier League title race while dominating the UEFA Europa Conference League. However, the downturn in form has soured the mood in the camp after failing to win their last four matches, and Enzo Maresca will be eager to script a turnaround this year.
As for Morecambe, 2024/25 has been a chaotic season, with the team struggling in League Two. The Shrimps are 23rd in the standings, with only Carlisle United below them on the table. While Derek Adams’s men have won two of their last three league games, they are four points behind 22nd-placed Swindon Town. Meanwhile, the away side reached the FA Cup third round by beating Worthing FC and Bradford City in the previous stages.
The only previous game between Chelsea and Morecambe came in the FA Cup third round four years ago, with the Blues cruising to a 4-0 win. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Chelsea
Enzo Maresca has greeted a positive update on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Chelsea manager will be bereft of the services of five first-team players vs Morecambe on Saturday.
Reece James (hamstring), Romeo Lavia (thigh), and Carney Chukwuemeka (illness) are fit and available after their recent spells on the sidelines. However, James and Lavia will unlikely be ready to start against Morecambe. Meanwhile, Wesley Fofana (thigh), Benoit Badiashile (hamstring), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (unspecified), and Omari Kellyman (hamstring) remain on the sidelines.
Mykhailo Mudryk remains suspended after recently failing a doping test, while Aaron Anselmino is not ready to make his first-team bow for the home side. Filip Jorgensen will take his spot between the sticks, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Morecambe on Saturday. The backline should feature Josh Acheampong, Axel Disasi, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Renato Veiga.
As for the midfield unit, Chukwuemeka and Samuel Rak-Sakyi should pair up in the double pivot, with Christopher Nkunku reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Marc Guiu will lead the line for Chelsea against Morecambe, with Noni Madueke and Joao Felix completing the numbers in the offensive unit.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Acheampong, Disasi, Adarabioyo, Veiga; Chukwuemeka, Rak-Sakyi; Madueke, Nkunku, Felix; Guiu
Morecambe
Unlike his counterpart in the Chelsea dugout, Derek Adams does not have many issues to deal with ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge. The Morecambe manager will have a full-strength squad this weekend.
Harry Burgoyne will take his spot between the sticks, with Morecambe lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Chelsea on Saturday. The backline should feature Luke Hendrie, Rhys Williams, Jamie Stott, and Adam Lewis.
As for the midfield unit, Callum Jones and Tom White will pair up in the double pivot, with captain Yann Songo’o reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Jordan Slew will spearhead the Morecambe attack against Chelsea, with Ben Tollitt and Gwion Edwards being the two wide attackers.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Burgoyne; Hendrie, Williams, Stott, Lewis; Jones, White; Tollitt, Songo’o, Edwards; Slew
Key Stats
- Saturday’s clash will be the second competitive meeting between Chelsea and Morecambe, with the Blues winning an FA Cup third-round tie in January 2021 previously.
- Morecambe have lost all three FA Cup matches against Premier League opposition by an aggregate score of 10-1.
- Chelsea have progressed from 35 of their last 36 FA Cup ties against sides from a lower division, including the 20 most recent clashes since a 4-2 home defeat to Bradford City in January 2015.
- Saturday’s match will be Morecambe’s seventh appearance in the FA Cup third round, with four outings coming in the last five seasons. However, they have lost all six matches at this stage.
- In the current format of the FA Cup (since 1925/26), Chelsea have the highest progression rate from third-round ties among sides to participate in this stage at least ten times (80% – progressed from 74/93).
Player to Watch
Marc Guiu
Joao Felix was a viable candidate for this section amid uncertainties surrounding his long-term future, but we have picked Marc Guiu as our Player to Watch for Saturday’s match. The teenage sensation has had to bide his time since joining Chelsea from Barcelona in the summer transfer window.
The Spaniard has only 32 minutes of game time in the Premier League but has been exceptional in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Guiu has scored six goals in as many games, finding the back of the net once every 47 minutes. He should add a feather to his cap when Chelsea and Morecambe clash this weekend.
Prediction
Chelsea 5-1 Morecambe
Chelsea could not have asked for a better opponent for the FA Cup third-round clash amid the desperate search for a win after failing to win four successive games. With Morecambe second from bottom in the League Two standings, they do not have the quality to trouble a second or third-string Chelsea side.
Marc Guiu and Christopher Nkunku should run riot in the final third, helping Chelsea cruise to a straightforward victory. The Hard Tackle predicts a run-of-the-mill 5-1 win for Enzo Maresca and his charges.
