FA
Cup holders Chelsea get their title defence underway on Saturday when they
host Nottingham Forest in the third round.
Chelsea best Manchester United 1-0 in the 2018 final, with Eden Hazard's
22nd-minute penalty sealing an eighth FA Cup title for the club.
The Blues assistant manager Gianfranco Zola reiterated how important the
competition is but said it is difficult to try and play all the best
players.
"For me, I always rated it as one of the best. It is open to everyone like
football should be. It is an open competition and it feeds the dream of many
people. The crowd loves it, everybody does," he said.
"We are trying to establish ourselves in this championship and we want to do
well in the FA Cup. It is a pity the game comes where we have played so many
games. You have to try to save some players."
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest manager Aitor Karanka is confident his side can
cause an FA Cup upset when they take on the Blues at Stamford Bridge.
"If I don't believe, I can't convince the players," he said. "I have to be
the first who is convinced and I am because to prepare one game thinking
that it will be impossible to win, then it will be impossible to win.
"I am convinced that we can compete against them because we always compete
against good teams.
"It is not easy to play at Stamford Bridge and against those kind of
players. It is something that the players should feel in the way that we
showed how good we are against Leeds, I hope that they show how good they
are."
Team news
Callum Hudson-Odoi is fit again following a hamstring injury and could
feature on Saturday. Willian, Pedro and Olivier Giroud are out, while Eden
Hazard is poised to be rested as Maurizio Sarri prepares to rotate his
options.
Nottingham Forest have problems in defence as they look to spring a surprise
at Stamford Bridge. Michael Hefele is likely to miss out after he suffered
an Achilles injury against Leeds on New Year's Day, while Tobias Figueiredo
will only feature if he has recovered from a dead leg.
Michael Dawson (hamstring) remains out so Claudio Yacob could be used in the
centre of defence. Top scorer Lewis Grabban remains a doubt after the
15-goal striker missed out against Leeds with a slight injury.
Opta stats
Chelsea have progressed from all three of their FA Cup ties against
Nottingham Forest, with all previous meetings being in round four (1933-34,
1999-00 and 2006- 07).
Nottingham Forest have eliminated the FA Cup holders on five of the six
previous occasions they've faced them, including Arsenal at this stage last
season.
Chelsea - who have reached the FA Cup final in the last two seasons -
haven't been eliminated at the third round stage since the 1997-98 campaign.
Nottingham Forest have alternated between defeat and victory in their last
six FA Cup third round ties, beating Arsenal 4-2 last season.
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