Aston Villa will be planning to further cement their place in the top four when they welcome Chelsea to the Midlands in Saturday night’s late kick-off.
Unai Emery’s Villans are primed for a successful end to the campaign with plenty to play for both domestically and in Europe. They sit six points ahead of Tottenham having played a match more before the weekend.
Chelsea were dumped out of the FA Cup by Manchester City and followed that disappointment up with a disgrace of a performance at Arsenal, being roundly thrashed 5-0 by their London rivals.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Saturday’s encounter.
Aston Villa vs Chelsea H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Aston Villa |
Chelsea |
|---|---|
|
Aston Villa 3-1 Bournemouth – 21/04/24 |
Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea – 23/04/24 |
|
Lille 2-1 Aston Villa – 18/04/24 |
Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea – 20/04/24 |
|
Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa – 14/04/24 |
Chelsea 6-0 Everton – 15/04/24 |
|
Aston Villa 2-1 Lille – 11/04/24 |
Sheffield United 2-2 Chelsea – 07/04/24 |
|
Aston Villa 3-3 Brentford – 06/04/24 |
Chelsea 4-3 Manchester United – 04/04/24 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
TNT Sports 1, discovery+ App, TNT Sports Ultimate, discovery+ |
|
United States |
SiriusXM FC, Peacock |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada |
Villa can welcome Douglas Luiz back into their starting lineup after the Brazilian midfielder served a suspension for collecting ten yellow cards. He’ll partner John McGinn with few other changes expected from the side that saw off Bournemouth 3-1 last week.
Nicolo Zaniolo is on the sidelines having just started to show what he can do at Villa Park, with the likes of Jacob Ramsey, Alex Moreno, Boubacar Kamara, Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings all unavailable.
Aston Villa predicted lineup vs Chelsea (4-4-1-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Bailey, McGinn, Luiz, Rogers; Tielemans; Watkins.
Chelsea should be boosted by the return of Cole Palmer, who missed the 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Arsenal due to illness.
However, Mauricio Pochettino continues to be hamstrung by injuries elsewhere in his squad. Enzo Fernandez’s season is over due to a groin problem, while Raheem Sterling and Carney Chukwuemeka have been struck down by blows this week. Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia, Lesley Ugochukwu, Reece James, Robert Sanchez, Christopher Nkunku, Levi Colwill, Malo Gusto and Ben Chilwell are all unavailable.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Disasi, Chalobah, Silva, Cucurella; Caicedo, Gallagher; Madueke, Palmer, Mudryk; Jackson.
Aston Villa have upset the natural order of the top six and could follow Newcastle in achieving surprise Champions League qualification. They look strong in all facets and have a healthy lead over Tottenham.
Chelsea had enjoyed a decent run until their FA Cup exit and subsequent humiliation at the hands of London rivals Arsenal. Pochettino would have hoped his side would be in Villa’s shoes at this stage in his debut campaign, but poor performances throughout 2023/24 mean they’re scrapping for Europa Conference League football.
Villa have fried bigger fish than Chelsea this season and should secure a straightforward victory at home on Saturday night.
Prediction: Aston Villa 2-0 Chelsea
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