Aston Villa vs Chelsea Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is Aston Villa vs Chelsea taking place? Aston Villa vs Chelsea will take place on Sunday 26th December, 2021 at 17:30 (UK)
Where is Aston Villa vs Chelsea taking place? Aston Villa vs Chelsea will take place at Villa Park in Birmingham
Where can I get tickets for Aston Villa vs Chelsea? Ticket information for Aston Villa vs Chelsea can be found on each club’s official website
What TV channel is Aston Villa vs Chelsea on in the UK? Aston Villa vs Chelsea will be televised live on Sky Sports
Where can I stream Aston Villa vs Chelsea in the UK? Sky Sports subscribers can stream Aston Villa vs Chelsea live via Sky Go
THE LOWDOWN
ASTON VILLA
- Aston Villa were last in action back on December 14th when they defeated rock bottom Norwich by two goals to nil at Carrow Road and return home to face a Chelsea side who have drawn their last two league matches.
- The hosts will be without Leon Bailey, Marvelous Nakamba and Bertrand Traore through injury, whilst Steven Gerrard also has a number of Covid-19 related concerns within his squad.
CHELSEA
- Chelsea have lost four points worth of ground on league leaders Man City in the Premier League across their last two games and will be hoping their Carabao Cup quarter-final victory in midweek acts as a springboard for an improvement in the league.
- Romelu Lukaku and Callum Hudson-Odoi have both recorded negative Covid-19 tests and their fitness will determine whether they will feature here, although the Blues have other Covid absentees and could be without Hakim Ziyech, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Andreas Christensen, all of whom are injury doubts.
THE TEAM NEWS
ASTON VILLA
PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett; McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Ramsey; Buendia, Ings, Watkins
UNAVAILABLE: Bailey (Injured), Nakamba (Injured), Steer (Isolating), Traore (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Davis (Fitness), El Ghazi (Fitness), Sanson (Fitness)
CHELSEA
PREDICTED XI (3-4-2-1): Mendy; Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kante, Alonso; Mount, Pulisic; Lukaku
UNAVAILABLE: Chilwell (Isolating), Havertz (Isolating), Werner (Isolating)
QUESTIONABLE: Christensen (Injured), Hudson-Odoi (Fitness), Loftus-Cheek (Injured), Lukaku (Fitness), Ziyech (Injured)
THE PREDICTION
Aston Villa’s squad have started to realise their obvious potential with Gerrard at the helm and their attacking prowess is expected to cause Chelsea plenty of problems here. The Blues meanwhile, know that they cannot afford to drop more points and allow Man City to build a bigger gap between the two teams. Therefore, the crowd should be in for an exciting battle here between these two sides and each have the ability to create plenty of goalscoring opportunities. Chelsea have kept just one clean sheet from their last six Premier League fixtures, but their quality going forward is clear and both teams to score is well worth considering here, regardless of who comes out on top.
Tip: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
