Chelsea-Preston is a match valid for the third round of the FA Cup and is played Saturday at 6:30pm: lineups, predictions, TV and streaming.
Tenth place in the standings after the first twenty days of the season, with twelve points to make up on fourth-placed Arsenal. In a season without European cups, something more was expected from a Chelsea that continues to disappoint despite pharaonic buying campaigns in recent soccer market sessions.
The Blues, as of today, would be out of it all again, especially out of that Champions League that Stamford Bridge lacks like air. Mauricio Pochettino, who arrived in west London in the summer, has had to contend with numerous injuries but cannot be satisfied with the way things have gone so far, despite his side’s showing some comforting signs in recent outings. Since mid-December, Chelsea has won four out of five games, surrendering only to Wolverhampton. Victories that came, however, against opponents who are certainly not top-flight (Sheffield United, Crystal Palace and Luton) but which give confidence ahead of the upcoming matches. One way to straighten out this season could be to win the domestic cups, FA Cup and League Cup. The Blues have already reached the semifinals of the least important competition, the League Cup-the first leg with Middlesbrough is scheduled for next week-and the goal is to make their way into the FA Cup as well. The Londoners’ debut will take place at Stamford Bridge with Preston.
Little rotation for Pochettino
The Lilywhites play in the Championship, the English lower division series, but are currently far from the top positions, being only 14th (but -5 from the playoffs).
Ryan Lowe’s men are, moreover, going through a peculiar moment: since the end of November they have collected seven defeats and lost both of the last two league matches (Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland) without scoring a single goal. Pochettino will prioritize Tuesday’s match with Middlesbrough, although the rotations perforce will not be able to be very wide due to the long list of injuries. Nicolas Jackson, called up by Senegal for the African Cup of Nations, will also be absent. Up front it will be the turn of Albanian center forward Broja, supported by the re-established Nkunku.
The Prediction
Chelsea should have no problem beating a Preston side that is floundering in the cadet league and, by its coach’s own admission in the press conference, will give top priority to the next Championship game. The Blues should prevail with at least two goals to spare.
The likely lineups for Chelsea-Preston
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Malo Gusto, Gilchrist, Thiago Silva, Colwill; Enzo Fernandez, Gallagher; Madueke, Nkunku, Sterling; Broja.
PRESTON (3-5-2): Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Potts, Ledson, McCann, Browne, Millar; Evans, Keane.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-0
