National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Chester or Darlington that keep their silverware dream alive.
It's no vacation for neither Chester nor Darlington as both were in action only a few days ago. Expect some tired legs on the pitch and/or possibly some changes to the lineups.
Chester form and stats
Last season, Chester's FA Cup journey ended in the 4th round qualifying.The home team returns to Lookers Vauxhall Stadium after being equal after 90 minutes with Darlington on their last time out; the FA Cup game ended 0-0.
Heartbreak before that as Chester lost 1-4 at Chorley's place.Some members of the home team might already be thinking of their next match, the Vanarama National League North game versus Blyth Spartans in only four days. This game is also played here at Lookers Vauxhall Stadium.
With the first game of the season soon underway, it's time to look at the results from the Chester friendly games in pre-season: Chester played nine friendlies, won 5, drew 1 and lost 3. If you are really into statistics you might appreciate knowing that Chester scored 20 goals and conceded 13 in these nine games.
Darlington form and stats
Last season their FA Cup adventure ended in the 2nd round.Darlington played 0-0 against Chester in their previous match.
Preceding that game was the away Vanarama National League North victory against Brackley Town with the score of 3-1.After this away game Darlington return home for a Vanarama National League North game against York City. That game is only four sleeps after this.
It's finally time to play a game of importance again as a long period of training has passed. Darlington have played a number of friendly games in this period, resulting in 0 wins, 0 draws and 1 defeats from one fixture.
Head 2 Head
The former head-to-head match ended Darlington - Chester 0-0, played this season. Head-2-head stats last five meetings: three - one - one (Chester wins - draws - Darlington wins). As for goals, two matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), three had two or less.Top Goalscorers
  W. Hatfield 3 goals |  L. Charman 3 goals |  D. Cowan 2 goals |
Chester missing players
Darlington missing players
| Chester | Darlington | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 11 | 25 | ||
| 11 | 7 | Won | W | 6 | 11 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Drew | D | 1 | 4 | ||
| 8 | 3 | Lost | L | 4 | 10 | ||
| 47 | 24 | Scored | S | 18 | 46 | ||
| 40 | 16 | Conceded | C | 16 | 35 | ||
| 88% | 92% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 92% | ||
| 80% | 83% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 82% | 80% | ||
| 72% | 67% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 64% | 64% | ||
| 44% | 33% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 36% | 40% | ||
| 32% | 25% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 18% | 28% | ||
| 64% | 50% | BTTS | BTTS | 45% | 52% | ||
| 28% | 33% | Clean Sheets | C S | 27% | 32% | ||
| 20% | 25% | Failed to Score | F T | 27% | 24% | ||
| 5.6 | 5.4 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 3.8 | 5 | ||
| 4.9 | 5.4 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 3.1 | 3.6 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.1 | 1.6 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | ||
| 9.9 | 9.6 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 9.5 | 12.5 | ||
| 4.5 | 4 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4 | 5.2 | ||
| 42% | 50% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 41% | 36% | ||