Head-to-head

Chelsea and Charlton lock horns for the first time in nearly 19 years. Our last meeting was in February 2007 at The Valley in the Premier League. Frank Lampard scored the only goal.

The Blues will be aiming to secure four consecutive wins at The Valley for the first time in our history. Charlton have won one of our past 11 meetings in all competitions, a 4-2 Premier League victory at The Valley on Boxing Day 2003.

We have twice played Charlton in the FA Cup. The first meeting came in the fourth round in March 1963, when goals from Jimmy Mulholland, Bert Murray and Bobby Tambling secured a 3-0 away victory for Chelsea.

It was the same scoreline when we hosted the Addicks in the third round in January 1995. Gavin Peacock opened the scoring before further goals from Frank Sinclair and John Spencer.

Head-to-Head (all competitions)

Played 71
Won 32
Drawn 17
Lost 22

Last five meetings at The Valley

17 August 20002 | Premier League | W 3-2 Zola, C Cole, Lampard
26 December 2003 | Premier League | L 4-2 Terry, Gudjohnsen
27 November 2004 | Premier League | W 4-0 Duff, Terry 2, Gudjohnsen
17 September 2005 | Premier League | W 2-0 Crespo, Robben
3 February 2007 | Premier League | W 1-0 Lampard

Biggest win for each team:

Charlton 4-0 Chelsea | 1976/77 | Division Two
Chelsea 5-0 Charlton | 1962/63 | Division Two
Chelsea's biggest away win at Charlton is 4-0 in 2004/05 in the Premier League.

Chelsea stats

Liam Rosenior is our fifth permanent English manager/head coach since 1992 after Frank Lampard, Graham Potter, Glenn Hoddle and David Webb.

Chelsea have won the FA Cup eight times. Only Arsenal (14) and Manchester United (13) have won the trophy on more occasions. We last lifted the famous trophy back in 2018, with Antonio Conte's Blues defeating Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley courtesy of a penalty from Eden Hazard.

We were the first Football League club from the capital to reach the FA Cup final, in 1915.

This is only the fifth season out of the last 22 that Chelsea have been drawn away in the FA Cup third round.

Chelsea have progressed in 26 of our past 27 FA Cup third-round ties. Our one defeat in that time came at Manchester City in 2023.

The Blues have progressed from 59 of our last 61 FA Cup ties against sides from a lower division. The last team from a lower division to beat the Blues in the FA Cup was Bradford City in the fourth round in 2015 at Stamford Bridge. The Bantams were sixth in League One at the time and ended our run of 12 successive home victories by winning 4-2.

Chelsea have won six of our last 10 away FA Cup matches against London clubs since 1996. The most recent was a 2-2 draw at Brentford in 2013, with the only defeats coming at Arsenal in 2001 and 2004.

Last five away FA Cup ties against Championship sides

2017/18 Norwich City (third round) D 0-0
2019/20 Hull City (fourth round) W 2-1
2020/21 Barnsley (fifth round) W 1-0
2021/22 Luton Town (fifth round) W 3-2
2021/22 Middlesbrough (quarter-finals) W 2-0

Last five away FA Cup matches

2 March 2022 Luton Town (fifth round) W 3-2
19 March 2022 Middlesbrough (quarter-finals) W 2-0
8 January 2023 Manchester City (third round) L 4-0
7 February 2024 Aston Villa (fourth round replay) W 3-1
8 February 2025 Brighton & Hove Albion (fourth round) L 2-1

There are no replays in the FA Cup this season from the first round and beyond. If the aggregate scores are level after 90 minutes, there will be 30 minutes extra time and, if necessary, penalties.

Chelsea won our last penalty shoot-out 4-2 against Newcastle United in the League Cup quarter-finals in December 2023, having lost the previous two in 2022 in the League Cup and FA Cup finals.

Milestones

Chelsea need to score five more goals in the FA Cup to reach 800 in our history.

Charlton stats

Last season

League One: Fourth, play-off winners
FA Cup: Lost 2-1 away to Preston North End in the third round
Carabao Cup: Lost 1-0 at home to Birmingham City in the first round
EFL Trophy: Lost 2-0 at home to Leyton Orient in the last 32
Top scorer all competitions: Matt Godden 22

Having lost just once in 10 games between 13 September and 4 November (five wins, four draws), Charlton have lost seven of their subsequent 11 matches (one win, three draws).

In the Addicks' last game at The Valley, they drew 1-1 with Lampard’s Coventry City.

This will be Charlton’s first match against a Premier League side since January 2023, when they lost 3-0 against Manchester United at Old Trafford in a Carabao Cup quarter-final.

Charlton have won their last four penalty shoot-outs in the FA Cup and League Cup, the most recent in November 2024.

Nathan Jones' managerial record against Chelsea

Won: 0
Drawn: 0
Lost: 2

Last five results

Oxford United (h) W 1-0
Norwich City (a) L 1-0
Portsmouth (a) L 2-1
Coventry City (h) D 1-1
Blackburn Rovers (a) D 2-2

Last Championship line-up

Blackburn Rovers 2-2 Charlton Athletic
Sunday 4 JanuaryTeam (3-1-4-2): Kaminski; Bell, Burke (Gillesphey 42), Jones (c); Coventry (Knibbs 78); Bree, Berry (Carey 60), Rankin-Costello (Docherty 60), Campbell; Leaburn (Olaofe 78), Kelman
Scorers: Kelman 28, pen 34

Discipline

Marc Cucurella is suspended (one match) for his red card against Fulham on Wednesday.

Yellow cards only count in the competition they are received. In the FA Cup, two bookings will result in a one-match suspension. All yellow cards accumulated in the earlier rounds are wiped clean after the quarter-final stage, meaning players cannot miss the semi-final or final due to yellow card accumulation.

Match officials

Referee: Chris Kavanagh
Assistants: Ian Hussin, Dan Cook
Fourth official: Ruebyn Ricardo

VAR is not in operation.

Chris Kavanagh is officiating his second Blues match this season, having already refereed our 3-0 Premier League win at Nottingham Forest in October.