Chelsea vs. Leeds Prediction & Betting Tips

The upcoming FA Cup 5th round clash between Chelsea and Leeds United stands as arguably the most intriguing of this season’s 5th round lineup. Set to take place on Wednesday night, this match at Stamford Bridge is sure to captivate football fans as both sides compete for a place in the quarter-finals of the prestigious competition.

Date: 28/02/2024

Kick-off time: 19:30

Location: Stamford Bridge


Firstly, Chelsea find themselves in an uncharacteristically low position in the Premier League, currently occupying 11th place. Despite heavy investment since BlueCo's takeover of the club in 2022, which has raised eyebrows and invited criticism, the Blues have struggled to meet expectations. With over €1 billion spent in the first two seasons under the new ownership, Chelsea's on-pitch performances have fallen short of Champions League qualification standards, making the club the subject of much ridicule.

However, amidst the disappointment, there have been glimmers of hope, particularly in the performances of Cole Palmer. The England U21 forward, signed from Manchester City in the summer, has been a standout performer, contributing 12 goals and 9 assists this season. Additionally, Enzo Fernández, the Argentine midfielder signed from Benfica, is starting to settle into the squad after a challenging start to his Chelsea career.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino has faced mounting pressure from fans and media alike for the team's underwhelming league performances so this competition is likely of utmost importance to him. Nevertheless, Chelsea remains a formidable force in the FA Cup, having won the competition on eight occasions, with their most recent triumph coming in the 2017-18 season.

On the other hand, Leeds United, currently placed 2nd in the EFL Championship, have experienced a resurgence under the guidance of manager Daniel Farke. Following their relegation from the Premier League last season, Leeds have undergone a remarkable transformation, becoming one of the standout teams in the Championship.

Farke had a very tough job upon joining Leeds in the summer, contending with an imbalanced squad that was haemorrhaging goals. However, Farke has turned Leeds into (statistically) the best defensive side the Championship and has found a system that allows the individual talent of star players like Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville to shine, which has seen Leeds emerge as the best side in the Championship.

Alongside attackers Rutter and Summerville, Leeds have some of the most exciting young talent in the country, notably in midfielder turned right-back Archie Gray. Gray, just 17 years of age, made his senior debut for Leeds in the first game of the season and has kept his place in the squad ever since. Despite playing out of position at right-back, he's a midfielder by trade, Gray has shown maturity and intelligence beyond his years to become a pivotal figure for the side.

Chelsea Team News:

The Blues are entering this game fresh off the back of 120 minutes of a gruelling League Cup final against Liverpool so changes are likely here.

The issue Mauricio Pochettino has is that any of his substitutes were distinctly unimpressive off the bench against Liverpool, mainly Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke, so they will find themselves lucky to be given a starting berth here.

Trevoh Chalobah, however, could be granted a place in the starting lineup while Robert Sánchez may be recalled to start between the sticks. Christopher Nkunku should expect to play from the start too, while Alfie Gilchrist will also hope to play from the first whistle.

Carney Chukwuemeka, Benoît Badiashile, Roméo Lavia, Lesley Ugochukwu and Marc Cucurella will all miss out through injury, while Thiago Silva remains a doubt.

Leeds Team News:

The strength of the team that Daniel Farke will select feels like somewhat of a mystery. The German opted for strong lineups with three or four changes in Leeds' previous two ties and it feels like he'll stick with that trend here.

One of Jaidon Anthony or Dan James will likely come into the starting lineup while Patrick Bamford could replace Joël Piroe up top. Liam Cooper may also come in at centre-back amidst a packed schedule for the Championship promotion contenders while Conor Roberts could line up at right-back.

Sam Byram faces a late fitness test but Pascal Struijk, Stuart Dallas and Karl Darlow are all out injured.

Chelsea are coming off the back of what has the potential to be a season-altering defeat. The Blues fell to a 1-0 loss to Liverpool in the League Cup final at Wembley, with Virgil van Dijk stealing the trophy for the Reds with a header from a corner in the 118th minute.

Losing to Liverpool is usually no great shame, but the Reds were utterly decimated by injuries heading into the game and even further so in the game, where Ryan Gravenberch was forced off with a serious-looking ankle injury.

As the game wore on and Liverpool players began to fatigue, Jürgen Klopp gradually started to introduce a plethora of inexperienced academy products as the Reds finished the 90 minutes with Bobby Clark, James McConnell and Jayden Danns all on the pitch, while Jarell Quansah, a more experienced, academy product, joined the fold in extra time - this, all in addition to Conor Bradley being named in the starting lineup.

Despite possessing a squad worth over €1 billion, Chelsea could not take advantage of their extreme advantage in experience and ostensible quality, eventually falling to what has become a humiliating defeat. It will be tough for Chelsea to exorcise the demons that linger from that loss so they have a tough job ahead of them here.

Prior to that game they'd won two, drawn one and lost one of their last four matches, so their form hs been fairly mixed.

Leeds, by contrast, are amidst a very strong run of form, unbeaten in their last twelve games having won all of their last five on the bounce. Their most recent game was arguably their best season too, as the Peacocks faced top-of-the-league Leicester City in a crucial 2nd vs. 1st clash that will no doubt have huge implications in the race for promotion, and Daniel Farke’s men emerged 3-1 winners from a tough game that, in all honesty, saw them flattered by the scoreline.

Leeds missed a host of golden opportunities in the opening half an hour of an entertaining game that saw a distinct clash of styles, as Leeds’ ruthlessness in transition posed significant problems for Leicester’s ball-dominant style. Somewhat against the run of play, Leicester took the lead through Wout Faes from a corner and from then on the Foxes began to dominate, controlling the game through intricate midfield play and in the second half they spurned a plethora of huge chances to make the scoreline 2-0.

However, amidst that series of missed chances Leeds were gifted a lifeline through a huge officiating error as Patson Daka put the ball in the back of the net, a goal that was subsequently, and incorrectly, ruled offisde. Leeds, to their credit, found was back into the game and blitzed Leicester, using the roaring Elland Road crowd to score twice in three minutes through Conor Roberts (80’) and Archie Gray (83’) before a Dan James free-kick deflected off Patrick Bamford in stoppage time to finish the job. Despite not being at their best, Leeds showed remarkable resilience and perseverance to find a way to topple the league’s best side which is suggestive of a side destined to achieve big things this season.

Leeds have struggled away from home at times this season but that’s an area they’ve improved in greatly of late, as they come into this game having won all of their last six games on the road.

Make no mistake, this has all the potential to be a banana skin tie for Chelsea and following the emotional trauma of Sunday afternoon's trip to Wembley it's going to take quite an effort for them to rebound here. Ultimately, though, Chelsea have been good at Stamford Bridge in cup competitions this season and given where Leeds are at in their promotion run-in you can't help but feel as though they'll have one eye Saturday's lunchtime trip to Huddersfield. Chelsea 2-1 Leeds.

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Chelsea vs. Leeds will be live on ITV 4 and will be available to stream online on the ITV X website for all U.K. viewers. Additionally, full radio commentary will be available on BBC Radio 5 Live.

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