**Date:** Saturday 7th March 2026
**Venue**: Racecourse Ground
**Kick-off:** 17:45 GMT
Tonight, we’re packing our bags and heading off to Wales for our first competitive meeting with Wrexham since 1982—back when perms were fashionable and the world was only just learning to moonwalk.
These days, Wrexham are funded by Hollywood royalty—Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds—so expect at least three slow-motion montages and a cameo or two from Deadpool himself. They’ve made it to the FA Cup fifth round for the first time since ‘Take That’ were topping charts, and after dispatching Nottingham Forest, they’re riding high: sixth in the Championship and winning their last three at home. Rumour has it, the only thing missing is an Oscar nomination.
As for Chelsea, after last weekend’s utterly expected loss to Arsenal (honestly, it’s almost tradition at this point under Blue co), we transformed midweek into world-beaters, hammering Villa 4-1. One minute we’re Dr Jekyll, the next Mr Hyde—neither side remembers how to defend, but somehow we now sit fifth in the Premier League. Not bad for a squad that has developed an allergy to clean sheets.
We’ve lifted the FA Cup eight times—back when trophies were not just for show and before Clearlake arrived, rebranding winning as ‘the new project’. At present, we’re less predictable than a British summer, our defence and discipline are on holiday, and tonight’s fixture has ‘banana skin’ written all over it. If we slip, let’s hope it’s at least caught on camera for Wrexham’s next Hollywood blockbuster.
**MANAGER’S VIEWS**
Going into today’s game, Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson, says _“You’ve got to go into every game believing and if not, we might as well not turn up. We’ve got to go into it with a belief but we’ve also got to go into it with an understanding of the underdog mentality and what boxes we’ve got to tick to make the evening as difficult as possible for Chelsea._
_It’s always good to be here in front of our home fans. Saturday is a bit of a celebration, I feel, for the journey the club are on, and I want the supporters to come in and enjoy watching us play against top-class opposition. It’s been a long time since we’ve been in this round, we’ve got a rich history in the FA Cup and it’s important on Saturday evening our supporters and the wider audience that are going away from the game have seen a team which has respected that._
_It’s a great week for us. These are the weeks that you really want to be involved in as a manager, player, supporter. Chelsea at home in the FA Cup and then we roll into two really exciting games. When people moan about fixtures, we’ve worked hard to get to this stage of the FA Cup, we’ve worked exceptionally hard to be in the top six and I want us to make the most of this week, starting with the weekend.”_
Liam Rosenior, meanwhile, says _“When you see a club grow, develop and improve as they come up the leagues, it’s a great story. I think Phil has done an incredible job with the way he manages the team and the position they are in the league as well. They have done a great job. We know it will be a really difficult game. It’s a club that’s on the rise, and there is good energy and a good vibe around. It’s hard to play against that, so we will take the game really seriously. For us, it’s an opportunity to win a trophy. That’s what football is about and what the FA Cup is about. We need to be respectful of that. We understand that we’re the favourites to win the game, and rightfully so. Now we need to go and play like that._
_Winning trophies is why I’m here. It’s what you dream of as a player or a coach or a manager. You want to win things, and the FA Cup is an amazing competition full of tradition and history. If you focus on the trophy at the end of the season, you’re probably not going to win anything. It’s about the next game – we have to focus on the next game. The players are in a really good frame of mind, and obviously, the result and performance against Aston Villa has given us confidence, but at the same time, we need to focus on this game and make sure we come through the other side._
_What we have to do \[tomorrow\] is not think about the trophy, but concentrate on Wrexham. I think so far in my time, if I go back to the Charlton game or the Hull game, what pleased me so much was the application of the players – I thought we were excellent. We are going to have to be at that same level, at least, to win.”_
**SQUAD NEWS**
For Wrexham, Matty James (toe), Liberato Cacace (hamstring), Thomas O’Connor (hamstring) Ben Sheaf (knee), Aaron James (knee) and Lewis Brunt (thigh), are all out injured.
For Chelsea, Levi Colwill (ACL), Jamie Gittens (thigh), Dario Essugo (unspecified), and Estevao Willian (thigh) are injured. Mykhaylo Mudryk meanwhile, continues to serve what feels like the longest suspension known to man. Lavia and Cucurella both came off the bench against Villa and could play a part.
**TEAMS**
WREXHAM (Possible line-up): Okonkwo; Cleworth, Hyam, Doyle; Kabore, Dobson, O’Brien, Thomason; Windass, Broadhead; Moore
CHELSEA (Possible line-up): Jorgensen; Gusto, Chalobah, Sarr, Hato; Caicedo, Santos; Neto, Fernandez, Garnacho; Delap
**LAST MEETING**
Chelsea 5-0 Wrexham (Florida Cup) 20 July 2023
**CURRENT FORM (ALL)**
WREXHAM: LWDWWW
CHELSEA: WDWDLW
**OTHER STUFF**
* Wrexham and Chelsea haven’t met in any competition since February 1982
* Wrexham have won 2 of 9 games against Chelsea
* Chelsea have faced Wrexham in one previous FA Cup tie
* Chelsea have faced Wrexham in one previous FA Cup tie 1981/82
* Chelsea have won six of their last eight away games in Wales in all competitions
* Wrexham have progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup 3 times in their history
* Chelsea have progressed from their last 24 FA Cup ties against sides from a lower division
**PREDICTION**
[Sportsmole](Preview: Wrexham vs. Chelsea - prediction, team news, lineups - Sports Mole): Wrexham 1-3 Chelsea