Aston Villa vs Chelsea: Preview, predictions and lineups

Aston Villa play their fourth home game on the spin when they host misfiring Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday.

Villa were in action on home soil midweek as they welcomed table toppers Liverpool to the West Midlands, earning a respectable draw against Arne Slot’s high-flyers. However, their inability to secure victory on Wednesday evening means they are without a win in their last five Premier League games.

Their drop in form has seen them surrender ground in the race for Champions League qualification but they can move within a single point of Chelsea with victory at Villa Park.

The Blues have also endured a difficult period domestically and have been particularly weak on their travels. Without victory in six away matches in all competitions, Enzo Maresca’s side need a morale boost heading into the final months of the campaign and could secure exactly that should they manage all three points this weekend.

Here is 90min’s guide to a battle for European qualification.

Aston Villa vs Chelsea head-to-head record (last five games)

Current form (all competitions)

Villa will be without centre-back Axel Disasi on Saturday as the French loanee is ineligible to face his parent club Chelsea. However, Ezri Konsa could make his comeback from injury at a perfect time with Pau Torres also missing in the heart of defence.

There are issues for Villa in midfield and Unai Emery is expected to be without the services of Amadou Onana, Boubacar Kamara and Ross Barkley. That means John McGinn and Youri Tielemans will be forced to start in the engine room once more.

Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio were named in the starting lineup against Liverpool midweek but the latter could make way for Jacob Ramsey having made little impact against the Reds. Leon Bailey could come back into the team in place of the former but remains a fitness doubt.

Aston Villa predicted lineup vs Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; McGinn, Tielemans; Ramsey, Rogers, Rashford; Watkins.

Chelsea are struggling with injuries at present and Maresca has confirmed that none of his absentees will return against Villa this weekend. Noni Madueke was the latest to enter the treatment room and will be out until after the March international break with a hamstring injury suffered last time out.

Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu are both missing with fitness issues in the forward line and Mykhailo Mudryk is still banned after failing a drugs test.

Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile are absent at centre-half, with Romeo Lavia also missing in defensive midfield. Young Omari Kellyman has been missing since August and is still out of action.

Chelsea predicted lineup vs Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Nkunku.

Back-to-back defeats to Brighton have put greater pressure on Chelsea to pick up a positive result on Saturday but they will be pushed to their limit at Villa Park. They find themselves in unconvincing form and have struggled for goals in recent weeks – an issue exacerbated by injury to Jackson.

Villa may be a tad tired from their midweek excursion and are not in their brightest moment, either. However, they could take advantage of uncertainty in the Chelsea camp with their plethora of impressive attacking options.

Prediction: Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea

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