Wrexham v Chelsea live: FA Cup team news and line-ups – UK Times

After consecutive promotions, Wrexham are the in-form team in the Championship, up into the play-off places and on a run of three straight wins. The Premier League may be the ultimate goal, but Phil Parkinson says the FA Cup is not a distraction.

“When we beat Ipswich (in the fourth round) we spoke to the lads about putting the Chelsea game on the backburner, concentrate on the league form,” Parkinson said. “We go into this weekend with an ‘everything to gain, nothing to lose’ mindset, but also in a strong position in the league.

“This is the next stage for us against a team of Chelsea’s quality. The main thing on the night is to bring our best performance, but also for ourselves, to see where we are individually and collectively against a team of this standing.”

Co-owner Ryan Reynolds is in attendance this afternoon and the Deadpool star has been glad-handing pre-match

And here’s how Wrexham line up. Central midfielder George Dobson was an injury doubt as he recovers from wrist surgery but he’s fit to start.

However, Issy Kabore isn’t in the squad after suffering hamstring tightness and Nathan Broadhead is only on the bench after a knock last time out.

Sam Smith leads the line with Lewis O’Brien and Ollie Rathbone among the other attacking threats.

Wrexham XI: Okonwo; Cleworth, Hyam, Doyle; Longman, Dobson, Vyner, Thomason; Rathbone, O’Brien; Smith.

The teams are out and here’s how Chelsea will line up. Nine changes from their last match – will that rotation give Wrexham a chance…?

Rory Delap will lead the line, with Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho providing the other creative attacking heft.

It looks potentially like three at the back with Tosin, Benoit Badiashile and Mamadou Sarr as that trio and then Josh Acheampong and Jorrel Hato as the wing-backs.

Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Tosin, Badiashile, Sarr; Acheampong, Lavia, Santos, Hato; Neto, Delap, Garnacho

Speaking of, the last time Chelsea lost to a team from a lower division in the FA Cup was that 4-2 defeat to Phil Parkinson’s Bradford in 2015, with the Blues winning their last 24 ties.

Among top-flight teams, only Arsenal (28 from January 1998 to January 2013) and Man Utd (30 from January 1985 to February 2009) have had a longer run of eliminating lower league teams.

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson is already responsible for one famous FA Cup upset against Chelsea.

He was in charge of Bradford when they came from 2-0 down to beat Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge in a fourth-round clash in 2015.

“I was thinking about it this week leading into the game,” Parkinson said. “The build-up to that, the preparations and the principles we took into the game.

“We were two down but playing well in the game. We didn’t let it knock us, we kept believing and stuck to the game plan and got the goal back before half-time. Obviously it was a memorable second half!

“We mentioned that to the players, on Saturday everything is possible.”

After spending three and a half months out, Romeo Lavia played 15 minutes in each of the team’s last two games, last Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal and the 4-1 win over Aston Villa in midweek, and Liam Rosenior was optimistic of the midfielder playing a significant role in the coming months, starting with Saturday’s fifth-round tie.

“I’m delighted for him,” he said. “Romeo will definitely play a part. He’ll play a huge part for the rest of the season.

“We know his attributes. He’s been itching to play. We’ve tried to build him in the best possible way. He’s definitely going to play in these next few games.”

For Chelsea, Romeo Lavia will feature but this match will likely come too soon for Dario Essugo and Estevao and Jamie Gittens is also sidelined until later this month. The main decisions for Rosenior will concern who to start, considering the club have a Champions League tie against PSG coming up, as well as who to pick in goal, after dropping Robert Sanchez for the win at Aston Villa.

Possible Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; Gusto, Tosin, Sarr, Hato; Santos, Lavia; Palmer, Fernandez, Garnacho; Delap.

The hosts could be missing a key trio in the form of George Dobson, Issy Kabore and Nathan Broadhead, who are all doubts. Dobson required surgery on his wrist, while Broadhead took a knock last time out and Kabore has supposed tightness in his hamstring.

Ben Sheaf, Liberato Cacace and Matty James are also doubts, while Lewis Brunt and Aaron James are both sidelined.

Possible Wrexham XI: Okonwo; Cleworth, Hyam, Doyle; Kabore, Dobson, O’Brien, Thomason; Broadhead, Rathbone; Moore.

The match is scheduled to kick off at 5.45pm on Saturday, 7 March at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham, Wales.

Viewers can watch the match live in the UK both TNT Sports 1 and BBC One, with coverage starting at 5pm on TNT and 5:30pm on the BBC. Subscribers can also stream the action on discovery+, or watch for free on BBC iPlayer. In the US, the FA Cup can be viewed on ESPN.