Chelsea 0-0 Aston Villa: Takeaways from FA Cup stalemate

Chelsea and Aston Villa will battle it out in a replay for a spot in round five of the FA Cup following Friday night’s 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues and the Villans will have to do battle again after they could not be separated after 90 minutes in west London.

Douglas Luiz thought he had given Villa a first-half lead but his strike was ruled out for handball by VAR and the match would go on to finish goalless.

Here are 90min’s key takeaways from Friday’s draw.

Sure, Chelsea scored six goals on Tuesday against Middlesbrough, but it’s quite a bit easier to beat up on a team mid-table in the Championship when you’ve spent as carefree as they have.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men have not found the net in 180 minutes of play at home to Villa this season, with Friday’s 0-0 draw preceded by a 1-0 loss in the Premier League back in September.

Chelsea didn’t exactly create a gluttony of clear-cut chances, but there were enough half-decent openings for an experienced and ruthless forward to take advantage.

The story of Chelsea’s season might have been totally different to this point if Christopher Nkunku had remained fit, but the Blues can’t rely on him alone just to bring some semblance of consistent attacking potency.

Fortunately, it sounds like Victor Osimhen will be leaving Napoli. Chelsea have egregiously blown £1bn in the BlueCo era thus far, they may as well continue their spending by bringing in a top-class player who will instantly improve the team in the present as well as the future.