Preview: Chelsea vs Aston Villa – prediction, team news, line-ups

Chelsea will hope to bounce back when they welcome Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge on Sunday. 

The Blues will come into the fixture on the back of a disappointing goalless draw at Bournemouth. 

They had the better chances in the Vitality Stadium encounter but failure to convert those opportunities ultimately cost them two points. 

Nicolas Jackson and Raheem Sterling struck the woodwork, while Levi Colwill hit the target but had his goal disallowed for offside. 

The latest stalemate means the West Londoners have picked up only five points from their first five Premier League matches. 

Their miserable start to the 2023-24 season is highly frustrating given their spending on squad improvement in the summer transfer window. 

Manager Mauricio Pochettino apparently needs time to turn the fortunes of the club, but if the current form continues then it is hard to see him still retaining his job. 

Meanwhile, Aston Villa suffered a shock defeat in their recent Europa Conference League match against Legia Warszawa. 

The Polish side twice led the game through goals from Pawel Wszolek and Ernest Muci only for Jhon Duran and Lucas Digne to peg them back. 

However, Muci added another early in the second-half and that ultimately proved sufficient for them to register a superb 3-2 success. 

Villa have made enormous progress since they put Unai Emery in charge in November last year. 

They were in a relegation battle at the time of his appointment but the Spaniard led them to a brilliant seventh-place finish. 

The Lions have also made a positive start to the new campaign, winning three of their five matches to pick up nine points. 

They beat Everton, Burnley and Crystal Palace but lost against Newcastle United and Liverpool. 

Team News

In latest Chelsea news, Pochettino is dealing with several injury woes this week, with Benoit Badiashile, Armanndo Broja, Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku and Carney Chukwuemeka. 

Meanwhile, there are also question marks over the availability of Moises Caicedo. 

As for Aston Villa, Emiliano Buendia, Diego Carlos, Tyrone Mings and Kortney House will be missing on Sunday due to injury issues.

Chelsea vs Aston Villa potential line-ups 

Chelsea: Robert Sanchez; Malo Gusto, Thiago Silva, Axel Disasi, Levi Colwill; Chimuanya Ugochukwu, Conor Gallagher; Enzo Fernandez, Raheem Sterling, Cole Palmer; Nicolas Jackson

Aston Villa: Emiliano Martinez; Matty Cash, Pau Torres, Ezri Konsa, Lucas Digne; Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara; Leon Bailey, Moussa Diaby, Ollie Watkins

How to Watch?

Chelsea vs Aston Villa, as well as all other top-flight matches in England, can be watched via soccer streaming sites.

Chelsea vs Aston Villa prediction 

Aston Villa have just suffered a disappointing defeat in Europe, so confidence in their camp is not expected to be very high. 

However, given Chelsea’s struggles, we are not sure they will be able to pick up full points against the Midlands outfit. 

Chelsea 1-1 Aston Villa