Chelsea are reportedly locked in talks regarding the scheduling of their FA Cup fourth round replay with Everton following the 1-1 at Goodison Park on Saturday. There are currently two options which Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, the FA and the Premier League are discussing. Both solutions cause issues for us Fantasy Managers.
The first of these would be to stage the replay on February 15 which would prompt Chelseaโs Premier League clash with Fulham on Monday February 14 to be rescheduled, almost definitely back into the weekend on the Saturday or Sunday but a further postponement and a blank gameweek 27 for the two clubs isn’t entirely out of the question.
The second, and most likely solution, would be to hold the fourth round replay on February 19, which is also the same day as the fifth round of the competition. If Chelsea beat Everton on this date, then their fifth round tie against Reading will take place on March 1 or 2, meaning that the Premier League clash with Manchester United in Gameweek 28 would be postponed. This seems the most probable outcome with the BBC website already listing it on this day, Evertonโs official site shows it as TBC, while in Chelseaโs official post-match report from Saturday they say…
โโฆand so it is back to the Bridge, likely to be on Saturday, February 19.โ
In the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, a Chelsea Gameweek (either GW27 or GW28) could possibly be blanked with Fulham or Manchester United also set to miss out. Itโs the United fixture which looks the most probable to go, as long as Chelsea are victorious in their replay of course. That would leave Chelsea with a blank in Gameweek 28 and United with just one fixture โ away at Wigan.
This is a poser for us; a potential nightmare for the Premier League. If the Chelsea vs United game on March 1 is rearranged then the next possible slot for it would be at the end of the season in May, due to an already hectic schedule, bogged-down by Champion’s League fixtures. The two sides already have a fixture on May 7 at Old Trafford, and the next obvious slot would be the following midweek. This would set up a potentially decisive couple of days if, as expected, the two sides are still fighting it out come the end of the season. In FPL terms we could find ourselves with a Man United and Chelsea (double) Double Gameweek on GW 36; a mind boggling scenario which could ultimately prove decisive in our Fantasy seasons.
In the short term, the prospect of a blank for Chelsea doesn’t bode well for Fantasy Managers; itโs a major frustration given Fernando Torresโs recent arrival and the signs that Frank Lampard is back to his best following his 12 FPL point haul last night. Chelsea remain a highly owned team with Ashley Cole (26.6%), Florent Malouda (24.6%), Didier Drogba (22.3%) John Terry (14.9%) and Petr Cech (9.4%) all darlings of the game. This complicated situation could also hinder those Fantasy Managers with United and Fulham players in their ranks of course.
We can only await an official announcement.
