This weekend at Stamford Bridge, two title challengers will duke it out for an all-important win.
No, that's not a week-old opening line, but one which fits for Chelsea 's FA Cup Third Round clash with Chesterfield.
After playing out a thriller against Liverpool last Sunday and beating London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, Thomas Tuchel 's side will welcome the Spireites for one of the round's David vs Goliath matchups.
While the two teams share the ambition of becoming league winners in their respective divisions this season, the European Champions and fifth-tier Chesterfield boast another similarity - and it comes in the dugout.
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James Rowe is the man in charge of the National League leaders, who have lost one game all term in their fourth year outside of the Football League, and his career has strong echoes of Tuchel's.
Having retired at the age of 27 after enjoying life as a prolific striker in non-league, Rowe has been coaching for 11 years, swapping boots for books.
He studied for a sports science research degree at the Johan Cruyff Institute in Amsterdam, just as the Blues boss - forced to retire through injury at 25 - boasts a degree in business.
"He's 10 years ahead of me in age now but there's obvious similarities," Rowe, who graduated in 2016, exclusively told Mirror Football.
"We also both got education in different countries. He's done very well, his journey has been outstanding; to be European champion after only a few months at Chelsea and it was a great performance in that final.
"There's a lot to live up to and I'm really pleased to be on the sidelines with him. Hopefully I'll pick up some tools and weapons from him that he uses."
While Saturday's match will be a career highlight for the 38-year-old, who masterminded Chesterfield to a record 30 wins in his first 50 games as manager upon leaving Gloucester City in November 2020, the decision to hang up his boots wasn't an easy one.
"For me, to give up at 27 was very hard because I was playing in the National League North with Leamington [Spa]," Rowe explained, having led his team to wins against Southend United and League Two 's Salford City on their way to west London.
"I was fortunate enough to have a part-time job coaching at Birmingham [City], so I was doing both.
"I started my UEFA A-license and it was quite clear that I really enjoyed it, coached with enthusiasm and I loved developing others - whatever age or whatever stage because I think you learn at any age at any time.
"For me, it was really hard because I enjoyed playing. People say nothing beats playing but I'm a bit unique because I say nothing beats coaching.
"So I prefer coaching, I always have since I started doing it with teams and developing players at the highest level with Birmingham, who were in the Premier League at that time.
"It was the same at West Ham and when I worked for the Premier League, and I really enjoyed that side. Part of that comes into my philosophy here where I develop players individually on top of the team stuff we do.
"We're in a good place at Chesterfield, I've found my way here since I started doing my A-license 11 years ago and it's ended up at Stamford Bridge this Saturday which I'm ecstatic about."
While Rowe and co jostle for promotion to League Two in after their play-off heartache last June, Tuchel has spent his New Year putting out fires behind the scenes following Romelu Lukaku 's bombshell interview.
The Chelsea gaffer, who led his men to the FA Cup final last season, has been praised for his handling of the situation - dropping Lukaku for one match before recalling him on Wednesday - and his opposite number is on the same, "non-negotiable" page.
"Certainly looking at Romelu's performance from last night, he's fully on board and I think that's been dealt with correctly," Rowe, speaking on Thursday, stated.
"It's the same here, if anyone crosses your non-negotiables and it's out in the public domain, you have a decision to make as a coach.
"Thomas has chosen to do that and I can't really comment on whether it's the right thing to do or not because we haven't got all the information.
"But, for me, non-negotiables are massive as a coach and how to deal with those when they're crossed depends on the context."
Something Tuchel has been criticised for is his vehement complaints about the hectic winter schedule and player welfare, which Blues chief Petr Cech also blasted following their latest fixture reshuffle.
But Rowe can understand the German's arguments, despite the demands of non-league often putting clubs much closer to the bottom line.
"I think he's got a lot of tools in his toolbox, for sure, in terms of options - but they are a bit scarce at the moment," the Spireites boss admitted.
"They've had a hard run with Covid and injuries so it's been a bit unlucky and unfortunate.
"Everyone's been saying they're on a real poor run - if you look at their form, they haven't lost since December 4 and before that was a long time as well.
"They haven't done too badly, they haven't lost many games at all this season. We know what the challenges are - no matter who puts the shirt on."
With his club famously making the FA Cup semi-final in 1997, Rowe affirmed: "We'll try our very best against an almighty challenge but we love challenges in our changing room and we're really looking forward to it - we're excited.
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"We wanna enjoy the day, give our supporters something to cheer about and it's just a proud day to be marking Chesterfield back on the map.
"That's the main thing, it's bigger than just what happens on the pitch on Saturday; it's a marker that this club is coming back and on the up."
The task on the pitch is to repeat history, as the Chesterfield side of 1905 ended Chelsea's unbeaten run in all competitions that campaign, with Joe Ball's goal making the difference.
"To come back in 2022 and play the game is remarkable," Rowe added. "Hopefully, we can have a big of that magic on Saturday."
