As things stand this is the Londoners’ only weekend match at home until March. All the rest are weeknight fixtures, starting with Bournemouth on Tuesday.

The visitors were beaten 4-0 when we met at the same stage of this competition during lockdown in 2021, but will have 3,000 Lancastrians present inside the stadium on Saturday, hoping they can bridge the 87-rung divide on the league ladder.

So far in League Two, Morecambe - like their TV comedy namesake - have struck the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. Statistically they are the worst-performing side at home, but are comfortably in the top-half on away form.

After five losses in six games, a 2-0 New Year’s Day triumph over Tranmere lifted the Shrimps from rock bottom in the table, but a postponement last weekend means this is their first action since. The Lancastrians reached this stage of the FA Cup by beating National League South-side Worthing in round one, then League Two rivals Bradford City.

No lower-league team has won at the Bridge in England’s oldest cup competition since Bradford in 2015, and prior to meeting Manchester City in 2023, Chelsea had not lost a third-round FA Cup tie since the infamous 5-3 with Manchester United in 1998.

The Blues were FA Cup finalists three times in a row between 2020 and 2022, but last lifted the trophy under Antonio Conte in 2018.

Team news

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Morecambe, Enzo Maresca confirmed both Romeo Lavia and captain Reece James could be involved on Saturday.

‘Reece and Romeo are both available and hopefully they can get some minutes,’ our head coach said.

‘The rest are all available for selection, other than those that were already injured from before. Benoit Badiashile and Wesley [Fofana] are out and Kiernan [Dewsbury-Hall] is still injured, so he won’t be involved.’

Another player who won't be in action in this weekend's FA Cup tie is young defender Aaron Anselmino, having returned from his loan at Boca Juniors, as the Argentine will be given time to settle in England.

‘We won’t see Aaron [against Morecambe],’ Maresca added. ‘It’s still too early for him and the plan is to get him into condition to get him some minutes in the future, but not now.

'He had some injuries while with Boca and we will give him time to settle in here. To get used to English football, English weather and from there, we will look to use him.’

FA Cup regulations

Each FA Cup tie will be decided on the day, with no replays this season. From round five onwards, the VAR system will be in operation at all grounds, but not until then.

Should the scores be level after second-half stoppage time, 30 minutes of extra time will be played and, if necessary, the winner will be determined by penalty kicks.

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

The draw for round four will be carried out after the BBC’s live coverage of Arsenal's match against Manchester United, a 3pm Sunday kick-off. Those fourth-round ties will be played over the weekend of 7-10 February.

This year’s final will be staged at Wembley Stadium on 17 May 2025, one week before the conclusion of the Premier League season.

The history

Our only previous meeting with Morecambe was at the same stage of this competition in January 2021, behind closed doors at a locked-down Stamford Bridge, when Frank Lampard was in the Chelsea dugout.

Then-League One Morecambe, making their first third-round appearance since 2003, were depleted by a Covid-19 outbreak, but Adam Phillips almost opened the scoring by catching out Kepa Arrizabalaga, before the keeper recovered.

The Shrimps then conceded earlier than they would have liked, when birthday boy Mason Mount scored from outside the box.

After that, the result was never in doubt. Timo Werner tapped in his first goal for two months from close range, Callum Hudson-Odoi fired in the third and Kai Havertz headed home Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross for a 4-0 victory.

Know this…

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

The Londoners have lifted this famous trophy eight times. Only Arsenal (14) and Man Utd (13) have won it more.

Morecambe have bowed out at this round to higher opposition in three of the past four seasons – to the Blues, Tottenham Hotspur and Championship side Swansea City.

Starting with Saturday’s visit by the Shrimps, four of Chelsea’s next five matches will be played at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues have reached the semi-finals in six of the past eight FA Cup campaigns, including last season.

Most FA Cup finals reached