Team
news, stats and prediction ahead of Chelsea vs Aston Villa in the Premier
League on Wednesday.
Team news
Tammy Abraham missed out on Chelsea's defeat to West Ham on Saturday, but
Frank Lampard has said the club's top scorer may be fit to return for this
game.
Callum Hudson-Odoi made his return to first-team action in that match with a
20-minute cameo, while Ross Barkley and Antonio Rudiger are both edging
closer to fitness, but Ruben Loftus-Cheek is still sidelined.
Frederic Guilbert will sit out Villa's trip to London after he picked up his
fifth yellow card of the season against Manchester United on Sunday, while
Anwar El Ghazi, who was forced off in that game, may also miss out.
Jed Steer and Keinan Davis are both missing with longer-term problems but
Jota may return after more than two months out with a hernia injury.
Opta stats
Chelsea have won their last four Premier League home games against Aston
Villa, by an aggregate score of 15-1. They've never won five consecutive
league games against them at Stamford Bridge.
Aston Villa have lost eight of their last nine Premier League meetings with
Chelsea, with a 1-0 win in March 2014 the exception.
Aston Villa have lost their last eight Premier League games in London,
conceding at least twice in seven of those matches.
Chelsea are yet to gain a single point from a losing position in the Premier
League this season, losing all four games in which they've fallen behind.
Aston Villa's Jack Grealish has been involved in six goals in his last seven
Premier League appearances (3 goals, 3 assists) and is one of only three
Englishmen to have both scored and assisted at least three goals in the
top-flight this season, along with Jamie Vardy and Marcus Rashford.
Aston Villa have dropped the most points from winning positions in the
Premier League this season (13), winning just one of the four away games
they've led in (W1 D1 L2).
Charlie's prediction
Chelsea have had the stumble that we've been predicting would come. A lot of
players are not getting the game time they want, but he needs the youngsters
in the squad to perform. We have not seen much of Callum Hudson-Odoi
recently, while Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham have had a couple of knocks to
deal with. This tells you how the squad is being stretched. Chelsea will be
up and down for the remainder of the season in my opinion.
top