In what is an unconventional but compelling season so far, Chelsea play Aston Villa just 48 hours after a disappointing Boxing Day defeat to Arsenal. Aston Villa currently sit in 6th place, one place above Chelsea, and with two games in hand on the Londoners.
Chelsea enter the match with just two wins from their last five outings in the Premier League, accompanied by a triad of losses. Aston Villa’s form is slightly better, winning three, drawing once, and losing only to West Ham.
Chelsea after 11 league games:
1 defeat, 1st placeChelsea’s last 4 league games:
3 defeats, 6th place— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 26, 2020
Being at home, the onus will undoubtedly be on Chelsea to pick up the three points. Of their seven home games this season, Chelsea have lost only once. In comparison to their away record, it is a vast improvement. In a season with very little consistency, Chelsea can take this momentum into the encounter with Aston Villa on Monday night.
Team News
After recovering from his hamstring injury, Chelsea loanee Ross Barkley’s return to action will have to wait a little longer due to Premier League rules preventing him from playing against his parent club. Hakim Ziyech’s availability for Monday night is still under question after Lampard was unable to give an update after the Arsenal match. His teammates, however, Reece James, Ben Chilwell, and Callum Hudson-Odoi appear fully recovered after playing a substantial number of minutes against Arsenal.
Predicted XI
With the short turnaround of games, Chelsea are destined to make a plethora of changes to the starting XI when they face Aston Villa on Monday night. This game is a chance for both the fringe players and out of form players to stake a claim in this Chelsea team that is yearning for some consistency once more.
Edouard Mendy will be between the sticks this coming Monday. The Senegalese born stopper conceded 3 goals in his last outing, but if fit, his quality will surely be needed come Monday night.
Club captain, Cesar Azpilicueta, will take his place at right-back, with Reece James expected to be rested after playing the full 90 minutes against Arsenal. While Toni Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are likely to be the central defensive pairing after fine displays in the Champions League group stage when called upon. Like the right-back situation, Emerson Palmieri is likely to start at left-back, at the expense of Ben Chilwell.
In midfield, Jorginho is likely to return to the deep-lying defensive mid role, joined by N’Golo Kante and Kai Havertz, together forming Chelsea’s midfield three.
Switching to the attack, proceeding the Arsenal game Lampard told Chelsea’s Fifth Stand app, “Callum was fantastic with his energy. That’s what we absolutely needed and that’s why he will play in the next game.” Despite playing the full 90 minutes against Arsenal, Christian Pulisic is set to start on the opposite flank to Callum, with Olivier Giroud down the middle.
Full Predicted XI
Mendy,
Azpi, Rudiger, Christensen, Emerson,
Kante, Jorginho, Havertz
Hudson-Odoi, Giroud, Pulisic