Charlton v Chelsea predictions: Emerging Blues star to give Rosenior first win?
After watching on from the directors’ box as Chelsea lost 2-1 at Fulham, Liam Rosenior now gets his first assignment as the club’s new manager.
The 41-year-old’s opening task after leaving Strasbourg for Stamford Bridge is to negotiate a third-round FA Cup London derby against Charlton at The Valley.
It’s Chelsea’s first visit to the ground since 2007 when Frank Lampard scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for the visitors.
Charlton sit 19th in the Championship after a rather torrid run since beating West Brom in injury-time in early November.
They were fifth after that victory but have plummeted 14 spots after a run of one win, three draws and seven defeats in their last 11 outings.
At least there have been better signs since the calendar flipped after they held leaders Coventry to a 1-1 home draw on New Year’s Day before adding another point in a 2-2 stalemate at Blackburn where they led 2-0.
Chelsea’s form isn’t too dissimilar with just two wins from their last 11 matches. That poor run includes five draws and four defeats.
How to follow Charlton v Chelsea
Charlton vs Chelsea kicks off at 20.00 (UK) on Saturday, January 10 at The Valley.
The game will be shown live on TNT Sports 1 and Discovery+, with coverage starting from 7pm.
TalkSPORT will provide full match commentary.
Charlton team news
Charlton have a fairly busy treatment table and Onel Hernandez, Kayne Ramay, Matty Godden and Josh Edwards are all ruled out.
Nathan Jones will likely give this a go so expect Charlton to be as strong as they can.
Strikers Miles Leaburn (son of former Charlton striker Carl) and Charlie Kelman, who scored twice at Blackburn, will look for goals in Jones’ 3-5-2 formation.
Charlton expected line-up
(3-5-2) Kaminski; Bell, Jones, Gillesphey; Coventry, Bree, Rankin-Costello, Berry, Campbell; Kelman, Leaburn.
Chelsea team news
Rosenoir’s first starting line-up will reflect that it’s time to rest some big names after the busy festive period and that will likely include Filip Jorgensen replacing Robert Sanchez in goal.
Marc Cucurella is suspended so Jorrel Hato should come in at left-back.
Andrey Santos, Estevao Willian, Jamie Gittens and Marc Guiu are likely to get chances to impress going forward.
This should be an obvious opportunity to give Reece James and Cole Palmer a rest.
Chelsea expected line-up
(4-2-3-1) Jorgensen; Acheampong, Tosin, Badiashile, Hato; Caicedo, Santos; Estevao, Buonanotte, Gittens; Guiu.
Charlton vs Chelsea stats
– This the first meeting between Charlton and Chelsea since a February 2007 Premier League encounter, won 1-0 by the Blues. The Addicks have lost eight of their last 11 in all competitions against their London rivals (W1 D2).
– Chelsea have faced Charlton twice before in the FA Cup, winning both games 3-0 – in the fourth round in 1962-63 and the third round in 1994-95.
– Charlton Athletic have been eliminated in each of their last five FA Cup third round ties, last progressing to the fourth round in the 2013-14 campaign, knocking out Oxford United in a replay.
– Chelsea have progressed from 61 of their last 63 FA Cup ties against sides from a lower division, including their last 22 in a row. The two exceptions in this 63-tie sequence were against Barnsley in the 2007-08 quarter-final and in the 2014-15 fourth round against Bradford City.
– Chelsea’s João Pedro has been involved in seven goals in his last four starts in the FA Cup (6 goals, 1 assist), coming while he was playing for Watford and Brighton.
Charlton vs Chelsea predictions
After a poor run, Charlton have shown improvement in recent matches and will hope to carry that momentum into this London derby.
But Chelsea just don’t lose games like these as that remarkable stat above shows. That said, Bradford and Barnsley fans will tell you otherwise.
True, the Blues have been treading water in the Premier League but this is a chance to build momentum.
And with plenty of exciting forward talent bursting for opportunities, they can cruise to victory here against a Charlton side that have scored the third-joint lowest number of goals at home in the Championship this season.
Chelsea to win to nil is 6/4 while 3-0 is an option of honing in on a correct score. That pays 9/1.
For a goalscorer, Estevao has netted in each of his last four Cup games (three in the Champions League, one in the Carabao) for Chelsea.
Back the hugely-talented young Brazilian at 11/5 to score anytime.
