Chelsea vs. Nottingham Forest FA Cup 3rd Round Preview

As holders we begin our journey for this season!

We begin our FA Cup defence against 7th placed Championship side Nottingham Forest. The last time we played Nottingham Forest at home was in the League Cup last season as we beat them 5-1 thanks to goals from Kenedy, Musonda, and a Michy hattrick. Nottingham Forest are 7th in the Championship this season being managed by Aitor Karanka who is perhaps in line to be sacked if results get worse. 4 points behind 6th placed Derby County Nottingham Forest have drawn 2, lost 2 and managed to get a significant victory at home against Championship leaders Leeds United as they won 4-2 on New Years day. Lewis Grabban has been the top scorer for Nottingham Forest this season as he has scored 14 goals in 20 starts. Nottingham Forest have been decent and far better than the team that we faced last season.

Chelsea will be playing a different style of football against Forest this time and although they did face Conte and the 3-5-2 last season it was during the first half of the season during which Chelsea were actually playing well and were 2nd in the league. Another 5-1 result is not expected at the moment considering the injuries to our forward players and more than that the lack of goal scorers in the team. Sarri is desperate to end his trophy drought and so will most likely rotate but still pick a strong starting lineup to face Forest. The players will also want to hold on to their title. 

Chelsea Team Preview

Pedro, and Giroud should still be out for this fixture and Willian might be rested. Emerson and Christensen should start in place of Luiz, and Alonso, while Ampadu might also get a chance to start ahead of Rudiger. Loftus-Cheek should start alongside Hazard and Hudson-Odoi up front. Kovacic should be back in midfield with Fabregas starting his final game for Chelsea as he heads to Monaco. 

Nottingham Forest Team Preview

Karanka should have a good squad to select from and the team that face Leeds United should face Chelsea tomorrow. 

Starting XI Prediction 

Time to get our first win at home for the year and also win our first game at home in 3 tries! COME ON YOU BLUES!!!