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Chelsea FC’s FA Cup Opponents Revealed

By Ajitesh Rasgotra

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Chelsea FC will take on either Leyton Orient or Scunthorpe United in the Third Round of the Emirates FA Cup.

The Third Round draw for the FA Cup (or Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship reasons) was made earlier this evening as the big boys entered the pot. Various non-league and lower league club representatives crowded around a makeshift stage down the back of some Welsh conference centre as John Hartson and Mark Sampson decided the fate of the hopefuls.

Chelsea fans had to wait a decent amount of time before their number 13 was picked out and fortunately, or unfortunately, it was by the home-drawing Hartson. Sampson proceeded to (randomly, of course) select the number 57 ball which represented either Leyton Orient or Scunthorpe.

The two teams fought each other to a 0-0 draw in their Second Round fixture, meaning that a replay on December 15th will ultimately decide Chelsea’s FA Cup opposition.

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The Blues’ dire form in the league, coupled with an early exit from the Capital One Cup, means that the FA Cup represents their only realistic prospect of winning silverware in this campaign.

Of course, they are still in the Champions League (for the moment) but it would take a story that outstrips that of 2012 to bring home their second European Cup.

Chelsea were dispatched prematurely during last year’s edition of the oldest football competition, winning just one game before being toppled by a spirited Bradford City side in the Fourth Round.

The last time that the Blues were triumphant in the tournament was in 2012, when Roberto Di Matteo led the team to both FA Cup and Champions League glory despite finishing sixth in the league.

Jose Mourinho will be undoubtedly wanting to channel his inner Di Matteo as he seeks to salvage something from this wreckage of a campaign.

If Leyton Orient progress, Chelsea will be welcoming a League Two side who are pushing for an immediate return to League One. Scunthorpe, meanwhile, will present a challenge worthy of a team looking to establish themselves in the third tier after being recently promoted.

Elsewhere, Arsenal take part in an all-Premier League clash with Sunderland while Manchester City do likewise with a trip to Norwich City. Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool will visit Exeter and Tottenham Hotspur host Leicester City in what is probably the pick of the bunch.

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All the ties will be played between January 8th and 11th. Here is the draw in full:

Arsenal v Sunderland
Birmingham v Bournemouth
Brentford v Chesterfield/Walsall
Bury v Bradford City
Cardiff City v Grimsby/Shrewsbury
Carlisle v Yeovil
Chelsea v Leyton Orient/Scunthorpe
Colchester v Charlton
Doncaster v Stoke City
Eastleigh v Bolton
Everton v Dagenham & Redbridge/Whitehawk
Exeter City v Liverpool
Huddersfield v Reading
Hull City v Brighton
Ipswich v Portsmouth
Leeds United v Rotherham
Manchester United v Sheffield United
Middlesbrough v Burnley
Newport County v Blackburn
Northampton v MK Dons
Norwich v Manchester City
Nottingham Forest v QPR
Oxford United v Swansea
Peterborough v Preston NE
Salford City/Hartlepool v Derby
Sheffield Wednesday v Fulham
Southampton v Crystal Palace
Tottenham v Leicester
Watford v Newcastle
West Bromwich v Bristol City
West Ham v Wolves
Wycombe v Aston Villa

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