MY ACCOUNT
Two of English football’s brightest young managers face off when Aston Villa host Chelsea on Sunday.
Villa boss Steven Gerrard is under pressure to turn his underperforming squad’s fortunes around following a run of only one win in their last six — a sequence that has seen the Midlands club drop into the Premier League’s bottom five.
In stark contrast, Chelsea are charging up charts in both domestic and European competition, with recently-installed head coach Graham Potter having brought the midas touch with him from Brighton.
The Blues have scored 11 times in their last four matches compared to eight in predecessor Thomas Tuchel’s last seven games with Potter basking in the afterglow of a statement win in Milan — Chelsea’s first victory on Italian soil since 2003.
Team news
Leon Bailey has returned to Aston Villa training and is available for selection this weekend after a minor muscle injury.
Philippe Coutinho and Emiliano Buendia’s places in Gerrard’s starting XI are both under threat from Bailey’s return, while Ollie Watkins could also be dropped with Danny Ings pushing for a recall up front.
Poland international full-back Matty Cash is having his training workload carefully managed but is available for Sunday, but Lucas Digne will not be ready to return until later in the month.
Chelsea suffered a major blow in Milan when Reece James hobbled off with a knee injury and he will see a specialist over the weekend to confirm the severity of the problem.
N’Golo Kante is also due to see a consultant at the weekend after his own setback and will remain sidelined for some time.
Wesley Fofana is also out for the Blues, who look set to include Trevoh Chalobah in a three-man defence again with Cesar Azpilicueta due to fill in at right wing-back.
Potter made seven changes for the victory over Wolves, followed by six as Chelsea beat AC Milan 2-0 at the San Siro, so another reshuffle would seem most likely.
The stats
Aston Villa’s last nine goals in the Premier League have been scored by nine different players.
Ashley Young’s thumping effort against Nottingham Forest last time out was his first goal in the Premier League for Villa since May 2011 against Wigan Athletic at Villa Park — a gap of 11 years and 156 days.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has now scored in three games in a row for Chelsea and from every single shot he’s had on target.
At the other end, Kepa Arrizabalaga has kept three consecutive clean sheets for the first time since April 2019.
Chelsea have won six of their past eight Premier League away games at Villa Park.
Potter, however, has lost five of his eight league meetings with Villa, including both against Steven Gerrard last season when he was at Brighton.
Chalobah is still yet to experience a single defeat in his 28 starts for Chelsea.
Prediction
Villa have won just one of their past 10 Premier League games against Chelsea and the smart money must be on the Blues to come away with a positive result this weekend too.
Potter’s early success has increased expectations around the Londoners this season and it will be interesting to see how he deals with that.
His policy of chopping and changing his line-up has proved successful so far, but it could lead to criticism that he does not yet know his best team.
For now, though, all is moving in a positive direction for Chelsea and they ought to make their momentum count by returning victorious, at a price of 10/13, from Villa Park.
