Why are Chelsea playing FA Cup tie on Friday just 72 hours after Carabao Cup heroics? Blues forced into quick turnaround

Chelsea are back at Stamford Bridge to take on Aston Villa this Friday night only three days after booking their place at Wembley. 

The Blues beat Middlesbrough to reach the Carabao Cup final earlier this week but they won’t have had much time to recover before returning to FA Cup action. 

Mauricio Pochettino’s side will only have had 72 hours in between each game to prepare and that could play a part in their success. 

So why have Chelsea been scheduled to play two-midweek games? talkSPORT.com takes a look…

Chelsea have been forced to play on Friday due to neighbours Fulham’s fixtures. 

With the two west London clubs based so close to each other, schedulers tend to avoid them both playing a home game on the same day. 

The Cottagers, who drew 1-1 with Liverpool in their Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg on Wednesday night, then have a Premier League game the following Tuesday.

So that means Saturday is the only day available for Marco Silva’s side to play Newcastle and have enough recovery time in between games. 

As collateral, Chelsea have had their FA Cup game moved to Friday to avoid the two teams playing at the same time. 

The Blues will have had enough time to recover and prepare between fixtures despite them both being in midweek. 

As well as the game being moved to a Friday, it also won’t be live on TV in the UK.

Chelsea and Aston Villa fans will be unable to watch the FA Cup action as it wasn’t chosen for broadcast. 

It’s not all bad though, as both sets of supporters will be able to tune into the action on talkSPORT 2. 

Coverage will be presented by Hugh Woozencroft while commentary will come from Alex Crook and former Chelsea defender Scott Minto.