Chelsea: How Fulham Have Forced Blues to Play FA Cup Tie 72 Hours After Middlesbrough Game

• Chelsea thumped Middlesbrough en route to the Carabao Cup final
• Mauricio Pochettino's side are set to face Aston Villa 72 hours later
• The unfortunate decision has to do with their London rivals, Fulham

Chelsea are set for another testing cup tie, barely 72 hours after knocking Middlesbrough out of the Carabao Cup.

The Blues are just finding their feet in the second half of the season, and they will be looking for their third successive win across all competitions against Unai Emery’s side.

It will not be easy, however, as Mauricio Pochettino’s side have barely had time to recover from their game against Middlesbrough on Tuesday, January 23.

Sports Brief has now learnt that the reason behind the decision to have Chelsea play their FA Cup fourth-round tie on a Friday has to do with their London neighbours, Fulham.

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Why is Chelsea playing on Friday?

Fulham, who are also in the FA Cup, face Newcastle in a crunch match on Saturday, January 27.

The game will be played at Craven Cottage, a detail which made schedulers compel Chelsea to play their own FA Cup tie on a Friday, because of the close proximity of the two London clubs.

In other words, it would have been almost impossible to have both teams play at home in the FA Cup on the same day, as their stadiums are only 10 minutes away (1.7 miles), according to Sportmapworld.com.

Since Marco Silva’s side played Liverpool in the Carabao Cup second leg on Wednesday, January 24. It would have been impossible for Fulham to have their FA Cup tie scheduled for Friday since it would have meant the team would have had less than 48 hours to prepare.

Similarly, their tie could not be pushed to Sunday since they have a Premier League game on Tuesday, January 30, and a similar challenge would have arisen.

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Chelsea thus had to have their game moved to Friday as collateral to avoid the two teams having to play at the same time at home.

This arrangement enables both sides to adequately prepare for their upcoming Premier League games, which take place in midweek.

Pochettino’s side will hope to close the gap on European places when they take on Liverpool on January 31, while Fulham play Everton in another home game on Tuesday.

Liverpool set up Chelsea final

Still on Carabao Cup news, Liverpool are set for a showdown with Chelsea in the final.

The final, which takes place on February 25 at Wembley, provides Pochettino with a chance to win his first piece of silverware with the club.