Football fixtures have a knack of making clubs over-familiar with each other and for the next two weekends Chelsea and Brighton will be locked in a cup and league embrace at the Amex Stadium.

Next Friday brings a Valentine’s date in the Premier League, where the Blues and the Seagulls lie fourth and 10th respectively. But it's FA Cup duty first up for Enzo Maresca and his players.

The Sussex club – winless in five games since November at the Amex Stadium – reached the last four of the FA Cup in 2019 and 2023 respectively. Their only appearance in the competition's showpiece fixture came back in 1983.

Chelsea were runners-up 110 years ago and beaten finalists three times in a row between 2020 and 2022. Yet our name was engraved on the famous trophy for the first time in 1970 and the eighth occasion in 2018.

The Blues have lost just two of our previous 27 fourth-round ties, and both (in 2011 and 2015) came at Stamford Bridge. Our most recent away defeat at this stage was inflicted by Bristol City - then two tiers below the Blues - in January 1990.

After a five-game winless run between 2021 and 2023, three draws, two defeats, Chelsea are hoping to rack up five successive victories against Brighton on all fronts.

In the third round, braces for Joao Felix and Tosin Adarabioyo helped the Blues overcome Morecambe 5-0. Meanwhile, Seagulls savaged the Canaries of Norwich City 4-0.

Team news

Nicolas Jackson led the Blues attack on Monday evening against West Ham United, but was withdrawn early in the second period due to a hamstring injury. Marc Guiu was his replacement and, although the Spaniard completed the game, he had to be helped down the tunnel by assistant coach Willy Caballero at full-time.

Maresca was asked at his pre-match press conference about the duo and explained Guiu will be absent for our match on the South Coast.

'Marc is unfortunately a bad injury,' said the Blues head coach. 'Nico is better and he could be [fit for the game]. But it could also be a risk [to play him] so we will see. But it doesn't look like a long injury.

'Marc could be [a long injury]. We are still waiting to know the extent but it doesn’t look like a short injury, it looks long. Exactly how long, we don’t know yet. Probably weeks.'

Defenders Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile are long-term absentees and Maresca also confirmed midfielder Romeo Lavia remains unavailable. The midfielder has been sidelined since our 2-2 draw against Bournemouth last month.

‘Romeo is still in the process of coming back,' explained the Chelsea boss. 'But it’s still a long way to go.'

FA Cup regulations

Each FA Cup tie will be decided on the day, as there are no replays this season. The VAR system will be in operation at all grounds but only from the fifth round onwards.

Should the scores be level come the final whistle, 30 minutes of extra time will be played and, if necessary, the winner will be determined by penalty kicks. Chelsea’s most recent shootout against Newcastle United in the League Cup quarter-final of December 2023 was won 4-2.

Five substitutions are permitted, plus an extra sixth if additional time is required.

The draw for round five will be carried out live on BBC One at 7.10pm on Monday 10 February. All last-16 ties will be played around the weekend of 1-2 March.

The history

This is the third occasion Chelsea and Brighton have been paired in the FA Cup – though the first since 1973 – and the Blues finished each tie with 10 men.

The two clubs had never met before a third-round match on 14 January 1933 at the Division Three side’s former home the Goldstone Ground. A clerical error meant the Seagulls failed to receive an exemption from preliminary rounds and they had already navigated six knockout ties.

Early blows for Chelsea, though, saw Arthur Attwood open the scoring for the hosts and the Blues' Jackie Crawford crocked and hobbling uselessly on the wing. The under-strength Londoners went further behind before pulling one goal back through George Barber for a 2-1 defeat.

The Blues beat Brighton after a round four replay en route to the final in 1967. The first game was drawn despite Bobby Tambling’s fifth-minute opener, Albion equalising soon after Johnny Boyle was sent off for a retaliatory kick.

The marksmanship of Tambling settled the replay at the Bridge. He struck twice before half-time, then Boyle laid on a tap-in for Tony Hateley, and Allan Young hit our fourth without reply.

Violence flared again in the third round meeting on the South Coast in January 1973. Ron Harris was dismissed for the only time in his career, for punching Eddie Spearritt with 18 minutes to go. Then, 10 minutes later, Albion’s George Ley joined him for squaring up to Peter Osgood after "doing" Tommy Baldwin.

Ossie’s earlier contributions impacted the most, though. He scored both Chelsea goals either side of half-time to decide the outcome 2-0 in our favour.

Know this...

Chelsea and Brighton have never previously clashed at the Amex Stadium in the FA Cup.

Our Premier League meeting at Stamford Bridge in September ended in a 4-2 victory for the hosts. Cole Palmer claimed all four goals in Enzo Maresca’s first home league win.

The Londoners have won on our past four fixtures against Albion on all fronts – and have lost just once in 11 visits to the Sussex club.

Our seven wins at Brighton across all competitions have each time been engineered by a different manager: Dave Sexton, John Neal, Bobby Campbell, Antonio Conte, Maurizio Sarri, Frank Lampard and Mauricio Pochettino registering one victory apiece.