The two Champions League hopefuls meet at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with Unai Emery hoping to mastermind Aston Villa’s first win in seven games across all competitions.
By Alex Roberts
It’s been a remarkable drop in form from Villa, their 1-0 win over Bayern Munich earlier in the season will take some forgetting, but the Spaniard is in desperate need of a good run of results to keep the good vibes flowing.
As for Chelsea, a routine 2-0 Europa Conference League win over FC Heidenheim in midweek will give them a boost, as most of Enzo Maresca’s preferred Premier League eleven got a well-earned rest.
A mini drought for Cole Palmer
Chelsea’s talismanic playmaker is going through somewhat of a drought, with no goal contributions in his last four Premier League games, Palmer is prime for another Brighton-esque four-goal performance.
It’s not like he’s been playing poorly, he would have broken his duck against Leicester in the previous round if it wasn’t for Noni Madueke’s late and unintentional goal-line intervention.
Palmer isn’t having to carry this Chelsea side like he did last season. Nicolas Jackson and the aforementioned Madueke have both made vital contributions to their Premier League campaign. Even Moisés Caicedo has chipped in with three goal involvements so far this season.
Goals are hard to come by for Aston Villa
For a side that boasts a wealth of attacking options, including clinical striker such as Ollie Watkins and Jhon Durán, Villa have struggled in front of goal recently, scoring just five goals in their seven-game winless streak.
No doubt buoyed by a nomination for the FIFA Best Awards, a goal every other game isn’t bad for Watkins, but just three in Villa’s last ten games may be setting off some alarm bells in Emery’s head.
Maresca’s insistence on playing out from the back means Villa will get chances, it’s just up to them to put them away.
Poor Reece James
It’s hard not to feel sorry for Reece James. Another injury means he will likely be sidelined until the new year, Maresca admitted as much in his pre-match press conference, admitting he “Doesn’t know” when the Chelsea captain will return.
The right-back has missed 51 games for Chelsea thanks to ongoing hamstring issues since the start of last season but has impressed in the limited chances he’s had, winning 100% of his tackles, 69.6% of his duels, and 75% of his aerial duels in 241 Premier League minutes.
With understudy Malo Gusto also a doubt for the Villa game, Maresca will likely have to rely on either Wesley Fofana or Axel Disasi to fill in on Sunday.
Prediction
Both sides are relatively evenly matched as the race for the top four seriously starts heating up. A defeat would likely see Chelsea fall out with just three points separating the two sides in third and eighth.
Form isn’t on Villa’s side, but Chelsea have been poor against the bigger teams. Expecting goals, we’re going with a 2-2 draw.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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