Chelsea will expect to book their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup when they welcome Morecambe to Stamford Bridge in the third round of the competition on Saturday.
The Shrimps have made their way past Worthing and Bradford City to reach the third round for the second successive year, but the relegation-threatened side will be hard-pressed to continue their journey at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea -3 handicap - 8/11
Chelsea were beaten finalists in the 2021 FA Cup as Leicester picked up a shock win, but the Blues’ journey to Wembley began with a 4-0 victory at home to Morecambe and a similar result could be on the cards on Saturday.
Enzo Maresca is unlikely to field the majority of his star players at Stamford Bridge, but the Italian manager is blessed with an extraordinarily deep squad, and his fringe players should do him proud against the struggling Shrimps.
Eighty-six league positions separate these sides, with Morecambe struggling down in 23rd in League Two and Chelsea challenging for a UEFA Champions League berth in the top flight.
The visitors have lost five of their last seven games without scoring, and this weekend’s trip to the capital matches their best-ever FA Cup run, with previous third-round forays resulting in heavy defeats, losing 2-0 at Swansea last year, 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur in 2022, and 4-0 at Chelsea in 2021.
Maresca has fielded heavily rotated lineups in the EFL Cup and the UEFA Conference League this season, and we have seen the damage they can do to inferior opposition. They hammered Barrow 5-0 at home in September and have scored 26 goals in six UEFA Conference League group games, winning all of them.
Their four home games in cup competitions have resulted in a 22-3 aggregate scoreline and three have been won by at least four goals, so expect a thrashing at Stamford Bridge.
Marc Guiu to score anytime - 8/11
One of the youngsters Maresca has called upon regularly in cup competitions is former Barcelona prospect Marc Guiu, and the 19-year-old is expected to lead the line for Chelsea on Saturday.
Guiu netted a hat-trick in Chelsea’s last European game against Shamrock Rovers to take his tally to six goals in four starts for his new club.
He has only failed to find the net in one of that quartet of starts, and he could terrorise a Shrimps defence that have conceded 39 goals in 24 games against League Two opposition this season.
Over 2.5 first half goals - 13/8
Chelsea’s last home game in cup competition saw them race to a 4-1 lead before half-time, and another fast start is expected against Morecambe.
Twenty-two first-half goals have been scored in Chelsea’s eight games across the UEFA Conference League group stage and the EFL Cup this season and three of their last four have featured at least three goals before the break.
Only four teams have conceded more goals before the break than Morecambe’s 17 in League Two this term, so this game could be done and dusted by the half-time team talk.
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Chelsea - 1/28
Draw - 18/1
Morecambe - 33/1
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.