Aston Villa vs Chelsea – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

The Blues have won on six of their last nine away trips to Villa Park. Villa have just one win in their last five league matches but still sit six points above the Blues.

Aston Villa Form

Villa sit fourth in the league table despite winning just once in their last five league matches. Their last 25 matches in all competitions have seen 17 wins. A 1-0 home loss to Brentford saw a 27-6 shot count in Villa’s favour. A 1-1 draw at Bournemouth saw Villa outshot 20-7 in a fortunate result.

A late own goal sealed a 1-0 home victory vs Brighton. A 3-1 home loss followed to Newcastle in the FA Cup. Villa needed an 88th-minute goal to rescue a 1-1 home draw vs Leeds. Last Friday, they suffered a shock 2-0 defeat away to bottom-placed Wolves.

Aston Villa Team News

Unai Emery is without Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara in central midfield. John McGinn is nearing a return in the engine room.

Harvey Elliott is doubtful and Andres Garcia is ruled out. Unai Emery may consider some changes to his starting XI. Former Chelsea players Ross Barkley and Tammy Abraham are pushing for starting berths.

Aston Villa Motivation

Confidence in the Villa squad has taken a hit. They need a win here, but a good performance and a draw would not signal a crisis.

Emery’s side are not expected focus on possession. They will look to use fast counters and set-pieces to hurt Chelsea.

Chelsea Form

Chelsea are winless in three league matches. They won seven of their first nine matches in all competitions under Liam Rosenior, but they’ve dropped some valuable points of late in the league. A 3-1 win at Wolves was their last victory in the EPL action.

A 2-0 lead was surrendered in a 2-2 home draw vs Leeds despite a 19-4 shot count. A 4-0 FA Cup win at Hull City was followed by a 1-1 draw at home to Burnley with ten men. A 1-0 lead was blown in added time. On Sunday, Chelsea lost 2-1 away to Arsenal as they again ended the match with ten men.

Chelsea Team News

Marc Cucurella is absent to Jorrel Hato is set to play at left back. Pedro Neto is suspended and Estevao is injured so Alejandro Garnacho could get a rare start. Jamie Gittens is still absent in the wide areas.

Defender Levi Colwill is injured but Wesley Fofana is available after a ban. He could be recalled in place of Mamadou Sarr. Romeo Lavia is also pushing for more minutes in the engine room.

Chelsea Motivation

The Blues need a win to close the gap to the top five. A draw is not a disaster, and this match is certainly a must-not-lose.

Chelsea will dominate possession as Villa don’t focus on high ball possession numbers.

Key Stats

• Aston Villa have won just 1 of their last 5 league matches
• Aston Villa have lost 6 of their last 9 home matches vs Chelsea
• Chelsea are winless in 3 league matches (DDL)
• Chelsea have kept just 3 clean sheets in their last 19 matches (Both Teams Scored in 15/19)
• Chelsea’s Joao Pedro has scored 7 goals in his last 9 matches

Verdict

A close, tactical match awaits. Chelsea have a great record at this venue and could pick up a surprise win.

Best Bet: Chelsea win at 2.48

Alternate Bet: Chelsea win/draw double chance + Both Teams to Score at 2.35

Goalscorer Tip: Joao Pedro to score anytime at 3.10