Chelsea FC commence the defense of their FA Cup title when they host Nottingham Forest in the third round of the competition at Stamford Bridge tomorrow. It’s a tournament that has been kind to them lately as they have made 10 appearances in the final game this past quarter-century, winning seven of those.
They have also won their last 20 third round games. Let’s run through this match’s FYIs. Kick-off is 3:0o pm (BST) on Saturday, January 5 at Stamford Bridge.
The wagering community has deemed Chelsea big favorites in this one. If you’re going to be betting on this one, make sure you get the low-down on OnlineCasinoSnoop.com and see where the action is. Most bookies back Chelsea to win at 1/4, a draw at 6/1 and a Nottingham Forest win at 29/2. In looking at the series history, Chelsea has 38, Nottingham Forest 26, to go along with 28 draws. The recent form guide, across all competitions, looks like this:
Chelsea- WWLWWD Nottingham Forest- LDLDLW
The match may prove to be the final appearance in a blue shirt for midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who has made comments on social media that indicate he could be headed for the exit door after this his 500th appearance in a competition at some level of English football.
Transfer rumors abound of the Spaniard being off to reunite with Thierry Henry at Monaco.
Naturally, we selected Fabregas in our first team prediction, but we left another player heavily linked with an exit, Callum Hudson-Odoi out of our hypothetical line-up.
Take a look at the rest of it below and then feel free to post your own in the comments section below.
The Bank Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction (4-3-3) vs Nottingham Forest FA Cup 3rd Round
Attack: Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Alvaro Morata, Eden Hazar
Midfield: Mateo Kovacic, Cesc Fabregas,
Defense: Davide Zappacosta, Ethan Ampadu, Andreas Christensen, Emerson Palmieri
Goalkeeper: Willy Caballero
Prediction: Chelsea 2, Nottingham Forest 1
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.