Chelsea up for FA Cup fight, says Terry

The pick of the fourth-round matches on Saturday (1230 GMT) features a Chelsea outfit who have scored 13 goals in three matches — following a dramatic mid-season slump — against an Everton team who have won just one league match this year.

Pundits wrote off the London club’s chances of retaining their Premier League crown but back-to-back wins have put them back in the mix and their FA Cup and Champions League bids are also still intact.

‘We were reading that nobody fears us any more but people don’t fear us at their peril,’ captain John Terry said on the club’s website (www.chelseafc.com) after 4-0 and 2-0 league wins followed a 7-0 thumping of Ipswich Town in the FA Cup.

‘Everton are in and out of form but against the big sides, especially at home, they do tend to raise it so it is going to be a big test for us but we are certainly up for the fight and we won’t give up.’

When the two teams met on Dec. 4, Everton held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

The top three in the Premier League have what should be an easier draw against League One (third tier) opposition at the weekend.

Leaders Manchester United make a second trip to the seaside this week, heading to Southampton on Saturday (1715) after a midweek comeback victory in the league at Blackpool — the team Saints knocked out in the third round.

United and Southampton contested the 1976 FA Cup final, the Saints belying their then-second division status to win 1-0 in a huge upset.

More recent meetings have gone United’s way with FA Cup clashes in 2009 and 2005 ending 3-0 and 4-0 respectively, the latter while Southampton were still in the Premier League before they tumbled two divisions.

Saints defender Radhi Jaidi said: ‘We can use this as a reference for when Southampton get back into the Premier League. It’s a one-off game where you have to fight for prestige.’

Arsenal, second in the league, host Huddersfield Town on Sunday, the same day as third-placed Manchester City travel to Notts County.