Chelsea vs Morecambe

A ‘David vs Goliath’ FA Cup clash pits Chelsea and Morecambe against each other in a third-round tie at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s form hit a downward trajectory toward the end of 2024, with a four-game winless Premier League run (D2, L2) significantly derailing the Blues’ chances of overthrowing pacesetters Liverpool. Already out of the EFL Cup, Chelsea may see this as an ideal opportunity to avoid a trophyless season. Though they remain hot favorites to win the Europa Conference League title, a first FA Cup triumph since 2017/18 would be a decent achievement for Enzo Maresca in his first season in West London. Morecambe’s visit should be a walk in the park for the eight-time winners, who emerged 4-0 victors in the only previous FA Cup tie between these two teams in 2021. Anything other than that would be an epic disaster as Chelsea bid to return to winning ways at the Bridge after a 2-1 loss to Fulham knocked them down from a three-game winning home streak.

Visiting Morecambe would require a miracle to upset the apple cart in the capital after seeing off Bradford City 1-0 in the previous FA Cup round to set up this tie. However, the League Two minnows dispatched fellow fourth-tier rivals Tranmere Rovers 2-0 at home to start the new calendar year on a high, maintaining a see-saw form, which saw them alternate between winning (2) and losing (2) across their last four league games. Derek Adams’ men haven’t drawn a match since a 2-2 stalemate at Tranmere at the beginning of December (W2, L5), with each result (win/loss) in this sequence coming ‘to nil,’ highlighting the significance of opening the scoring. Yet, the Shrimps’ dismal four-game form on the road (D1, L2) suggests they aren’t equal to this insurmountable task.