The wheels have come off Chelsea's Premier League title charge, but the Blues will seek safe passage into FA Cup round four when they host Morecambe in Saturday's third-round showdown.

While Enzo Maresca's troops enter the competition at this stage, the Shrimps have already had to navigate clashes with Worthing and Bradford City to earn a day out at Stamford Bridge.

Match preview

Affirming for weeks on end that his Chelsea squad were not contenders for the Premier League title, Maresca's words may finally be ringing true, even if his previous admissions were simple mind games rather than a genuine belief that his players did not have what it takes.

After winning eight matches in a row across all competitions from November 23 to December 19, the Blues have now failed to come up trumps in any of their last four, only accruing two points from the last 12 on offer in the top flight during a woeful winter patch.

Formerly irrepressible in attack, Chelsea are now found wanting in the final third and also have just two goals to show from their last 360 minutes of football, including the Cole Palmer strike at Crystal Palace that was cancelled out by a Jean-Philippe Mateta leveller in last weekend's 1-1 draw.

That London derby stalemate left the Blues 10 points worse off than leaders Liverpool - who still have a game in hand - and at risk of being leapfrogged by Newcastle United and Manchester City in the Premier League table, where an absorbing battle for the coveted Champions League places is already materialising.

However, few will expect Chelsea's top-flight struggles to translate into a shock FA Cup exit, especially seeing as the Blues have won 35 of their last 36 matches in the competition against a lower-division team, the one aberration being a 4-2 upset at the hands of Bradford City in 2015.

Chelsea's 80% win rate in third-round ties is also the best of any team to have played at least 10 games at this stage of the tournament, but minnows Morecambe head to West London still without a single fourth-round appearance to their name.

The Shrimps have therefore already matched their best-ever result in the FA Cup by making it this far for the fourth time in five seasons, having comfortably overcome Worthing in the first round before edging out Bradford 1-0 in the second phase courtesy of a Jordan Slew strike.

That success did not trigger a consistent run of results for Morecambe, who went winless in five straight games immediately after advancing to the third round, but Adams's men have steadied the ship slightly with wins over Carlisle United and Tranmere Rovers since Christmas.

The picture still looks especially bleak for the Shrimps, though, as they remain in the League Two relegation zone - four points below 22nd-placed Swindon Town with a game in hand - although they have won 14 of their 20 points away from home this season.

Such a record offers a glimmer of hope that the latest FA Cup giant killing could be witnessed at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea and Morecambe met at the same stage of this competition four years ago, a match that Frank Lampard's Blues comfortably won 4-0.

Team News

An apparent injury disagreement between Chelsea pair Maresca and Wesley Fofana made headlines earlier this month; the former claimed that the Frenchman could out for the rest of the season with a hamstring problem, but Fofana challenged that assessment and stressed that he would return in the next four to six weeks.

Regardless, Fofana is definitely out of contention for this match alongside Omari Kellyman (hamstring), Mykhaylo Mudryk (suspended), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (unspecified) and Benoit Badiashile (thigh), while Romeo Lavia (thigh) and Carney Chukwuemeka (illness) are both doubtful.

As is the case in the Conference League, the hosts will make an abundance of changes for the visit of the Shrimps, where there is every chance that ostracised left-back Ben Chilwell could make his first start of the campaign.

Meanwhile, Morecambe boss Adams ought to be working with the same group of players from the recent success over Tranmere, including Liverpool loanee Rhys Williams, who has extended his stay until the end of the season.

Fellow defender Adam Lewis - a permanent acquisition from Anfield in 2024 - might rejoin the Reds-owned man in the backline, having started the second-round success over Bradford before David Tutonda got the nod against Tranmere.

Lewis's five assists in all competitions this season is more than any other Morecambe player, while winger Ben Tollitt is the visitors' chief goalscoring threat with eight strikes to his name so far this season.

Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Jorgensen; James, Acheampong, Adarabioyo, Chilwell; Veiga, Chukwuemeka; Madueke, Nkunku, Felix; Guiu

Morecambe possible starting lineup:
Burgoyne; Hendrie, Williams, Stott, Lewis; Jones, White; Tollitt, Songo'o, Edwards; Slew

We say: Chelsea 5-0 Morecambe

Chelsea's golden touch in the Premier League may have eluded them in the past couple of weeks, but even Maresca's second-string team should comfortably tear Morecambe to shreds.

Do not expect the Shrimps to depart with a consolation goal to their name either; all of the visitors' last six losses have also seen them fail to find the back of the net.


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