Preview: Chelsea vs. Aston Villa - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to end Aston Villa’s 10-match winning streak across all competitions, Chelsea host Unai Emery's troops at Stamford Bridge in Saturday’s tea-time game in the Premier League.

Enzo Maresca’s team are already seven points behind the surprise title contenders, who could end the day joint-top of the table, and defeat in West London could leave the Blues facing an uphill challenge in the battle for the top three while top-four challengers close in on them.

Match preview

When 10-man Chelsea held Arsenal to a creditable 1-1 draw at the end of November, the Blues were third in the table, level on 24 points with Villa, one point behind Manchester City and six points behind Mikel Arteta’s team.

Fast forward four gameweeks to the 18th round and the Blues have claimed just five more points from an available 12, placing them seven points adrift of Saturday’s visitors, eight behind Pep Guardiola’s team and staggeringly 10 points back from Arsenal.

The Blues’ current standing is an upshot of a dip in performances and results, with the capital club winning just one of the recent four league matches — a 2-0 victory over Everton — having won three on the trot before holding the Gunners to a draw at the Bridge.

Admittedly, though, Maresca’s team did secure another creditable point last time out against Newcastle United, fighting back from a 2-0 deficit to hold Eddie Howe’s troops to a 2-2 draw, albeit now on a three-match sequence without an away victory in the league.

Returning to the Bridge will please the hosts, who have secured seven points from the last available nine in West London, keeping clean sheets against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton in 3-0 and 2-0 wins respectively.

However, previous defeats to Brighton & Hove Albion and Sunderland show that Chelsea can be vulnerable in front of their supporters, which would be music to the ears of the visiting club, who could inflict the Blues’ third home league loss.

Considering that such an outcome could see the London giants slip outside the top four, with fifth-placed Liverpool level on 29 points and Sunderland in sixth just two adrift, the short-term jeopardy could be dropping to sixth.

As for Emery’s team, they can dare to dream after an incredible run has catapulted them into title contention in December.

The Spanish manager's side began the season losing two and drawing three of their opening five league games, failing to score in the first four before ending that drought in a 1-1 draw away at Sunderland in September.

Since that tie, the West Midlands club have accumulated 33 points from an available 36, winning 11 of their 12 played in the top flight.

These results have lifted the Villans significantly in the standings to third, one point adrift of Man City and three behind Arteta’s troops, meaning they could end the weekend joint-top if the Gunners lose to Brighton and the Cityzens do not beat Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

While Arsenal and Man City are undoubtedly favourites to win their games, Villa might also back themselves for a positive outcome in West London, where they have been victorious in two of their previous three visits, securing 2-0 and 1-0 triumphs in 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively.

With only Man City matching Villa’s five-match winning run in the Premier League and no team comparable to their 27 points accrued from the past 10 matches — Man City have 24 points in that period — Emery’s men have no reason not to back themselves to stun the Stamford Bridge faithful for the third time in four years.

Chelsea Premier League form:

Chelsea form (all competitions):

Aston Villa Premier League form:

Aston Villa form (all competitions):

Team News

Given that Liam Delap and Estevao Willian are back in contention for selection, Chelsea’s only injury issues are Dario Essugo, Romeo Lavia and Levi Colwill, the latter of whom is absent long-term.

With Cole Palmer back in the side, Maresca’s big-game approach to have Reece James in midfield alongside Moises Caicedo, which then frees up Enzo Fernandez to play further forward, might need some tweaking on Saturday.

Maresca’s strategy could still work with James at right-back, with his captain moving infield when the Blues have good possession, as the Italian manager is likely to have Marc Cucurella, Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana as his in-possession back three.

On-loan Aston Villa man Harvey Elliott is ill, though the Englishman was unlikely to play at the Bridge anyway, while Ross Barkley (knee), Tyrone Mings (hamstring) and Pau Torres (calf) are out injured.

Evan Guessand was called up as Sebastien Haller’s replacement in the Ivory Coast squad at the Africa Cup of Nations, ruling out the forward against Chelsea this weekend.

Morgan Rogers has epitomised Villa’s tendency to score low-percentage efforts, and the attacking midfielder, who has scored braces against West Ham United and Manchester United in consecutive rounds, aims to do more damage in London.

Chelsea possible starting lineup:

Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Neto, Palmer, Garnacho; Joao Pedro

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen; Kamara, Onana; McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers; Watkins

We say: Chelsea 2-2 Aston Villa

Maresca relishes so-called big games and often has a plan to combat such opponents, pointing to the Blues not rolling over at the Bridge.

Nonetheless, the Villans are one of the division’s form teams, and their adeptness at scoring low-probability efforts stands them in good stead in West London, where the points could be shared.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.