Chelsea drawn against Plymouth Argyle in FA Cup fourth round

Chelsea progressed from the FA Cup third round yesterday with an easy and expected win over non-league Chesterfield FC at Stamford Bridge, and while the location won’t change for the next round, our opposition will get a bit tougher — though still quite favorable.

In this afternoon’s draw, the Blues were paired with third division side Plymouth Argyle, who are currently sixth in League One. Plymouth upset Championship outfit Birmingham City, 1-0 in extra time last night to advance to the fourth round for the first time since 2007-08.

We last played Plymouth in 1989, when we were both in the second tier, Kerry Dixon scoring the game’s only goal.

The fourth round will be played the weekend of February 4-7, and will be homecoming for one Jordan Houghton. The former Chelsea youth captain, who left the club for good in 2018, joined Plymouth last summer after three years at MK Dons.

After this game, Chelsea will be off to the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, with the semifinal set for February 9 and the final or third-place match to follow on February 12.

The draw for the FA Cup fourth round in full is as follows:

Crystal Palace vs. Hartlepool United
AFC Bournemouth vs. Boreham Wood
Huddersfield Town vs. Barnsley
Peterborough United vs. QPR
Cambridge United vs. Luton Town
Southampton vs. Coventry City
CHELSEA vs. Plymouth Argyle
Everton vs. Brentford
Kidderminster Harries vs. West Ham United
Manchester United OR Aston Villa vs. Middlesbrough
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
Liverpool vs. Cardiff City
Stoke City vs. Wigan Athletic
Nottingham Forest OR Arsenal vs. Leicester City
Manchester City vs. Fulham
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Norwich City