Aston Villa vs Chelsea

Villa Park is the venue as Aston Villa and Chelsea go head-to-head in a high-stakes Premier League encounter.

Aston Villa’s woeful run of form continued last weekend with a dismal 1-1 home draw against 10-man Ipswich Town, though they atoned with a spirited 2-2 stalemate against Liverpool in midweek Premier League action. As a result, Unai Emery’s men have drawn four of their last five league outings (L1), accounting for their longest winless run in England’s elite division since December. That streak ominously featured a 3-0 loss to upcoming rivals Chelsea. Eager to enact revenge, Villa return to Birmingham, where they’ve only lost one Premier League fixture this season (W6, D7). Furthermore, they’ve suffered one defeat across the last 22 Saturday-held Premier League home games (W16, D5).

In the meantime, Chelsea’s top-four aspirations have dwindled after a 3-0 rout to Brighton condemned them to a seventh winless Premier League game across their last nine (D3, L4). Despite their drop-off in form, Enzo Maresca’s charges trail fourth-placed Manchester City by a single point pre-round. The Blues must improve on the road after failing to take a win on their last five Premier League travels (D2, L3), drawing a blank on three occasions. However, they’ve excelled at Villa Park, racking up three wins and a draw across their four most recent league visits, with each victory yielding a two-goal margin. Furthermore, they’ve bagged 2+ goals on seven of their last eight visits to this ground.