Aston Villa 1-4 Chelsea: Joao Pedro joins exclusive list with excellent hat-trick at Villa Park

Chelsea attacker Joao Pedro joined an exclusive list in his side's excellent win over Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

The 24-year-old scored three times in his team's 4-1 success, with the result moving Liam Rosenior's side into fifth spot in the Premier League table above Liverpool.

Pedro has become the eighth Brazilian to score a hat-trick in the Premier League.

Three of those players are still in the Premier League, with Matheus Cunha (Manchester United), Igor Thiago (Brentford) and Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal) all scoring trebles at this level.

Meanwhile, Afonso Alves, Robinho, Roberto Firmino and Lucas Moura are also on the list.

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Pedro scores hat-trick in Chelsea win at Villa

Pedro has enjoyed an excellent campaign for Chelsea, having made a high-profile switch to Stamford Bridge from Brighton & Hove Albion during last summer's transfer window.

The forward is now on 14 Premier League goals for the campaign, while he has found the back of the net on 17 occasions in all competitions this term.

Passing the 20-goal mark would represent an excellent first season at Chelsea for Pedro.

Pedro also now has nine goal involvements against Villa in the Premier League (five goals, four assists), making them his favourite opponents in the competition.

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What next for Chelsea?

Chelsea's attention will now switch to the FA Cup, with the Blues taking on Wrexham in the fifth round of the competition on Saturday evening.

The London club will then head to Paris for the first leg of their last-16 Champions League contest with Paris Saint-Germain on March 11.

Chelsea will be back in Premier League action at home to Newcastle United on March 14, three days before hosting PSG in the second leg of their European affair.