Aston Villa look to continue their improved form under Steven Gerrard in a tough Boxing Day clash against Chelsea at Villa Park.
With Wolves’ tie against Watford postponed, victory would see Villa climb to eighth if Leicester fail to win at Manchester City in a mid-afternoon kick-off.
Chelsea meanwhile will stay third with a win but move level on points with second-placed Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp’s Reds saw their Boxing Day clash against Leeds postponed.
Team News
Emiliano Buendia is available for Aston Villa after recovering from a knock he suffered in their last outing at Norwich.
Keinan Davis, Anwar El Ghazi, Morgan Sanson (all Coronavirus) and Ashley Young (unspecified) are doubts.
Jed Steer (Coronavirus), Marvelous Nakamba (knee), Bertrand Traore (thigh) and Leon Bailey (hamstring) are ruled out.
Chelsea could welcome Romelu Lukaku and Callum Hudson-Odoi back following recent bouts of Coronavirus.
Timo Werner and Kai Havertz could also feature if the German duo return negative tests and are able to train sufficiently, after recovering from their own battles against Coronavirus.
Andreas Christiansen (back), Hakim Ziyech (calf) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (knock) are doubts but Ben Chilwell (knee) is still ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Aston Villa have won just one of their last five league meetings against Chelsea (W1, D1, L3).
- Chelsea have won three of their last five visits to Villa Park (W3, L2).
- Villa are winless in five Boxing Day clashes against Chelsea (D2, L3).
- Chelsea have lost two of their last five Boxing Day matches (W3, L2).
- Villa have won their last three Boxing Day matches without conceding, during which they netted five goals.
Prediction
After seeing their last league game postponed just hours before kick-off coincidentally at home, Villa certainly will be eager to appease their fans with another strong performance after delivering a dominant away win at Norwich with dangerous attacking nearly two weeks ago.
Chelsea meanwhile were made to play on throughout their own Coronavirus outbreak and should be relieved to pick up two draws, as well as a hard-grinded midweek Carabao Cup win despite missing key players so I do expect a stronger performance here if key players return.
Villa though won’t make life easy because they are enjoying their football again with a reignition of attacking quality, yet Chelsea can take heart from their Boxing Day form in this fixture but fitness will be of slight concern as various players return following bouts of Coronavirus.
I therefore wouldn’t be surprised if we see a draw here unless players like Lukaku and Havertz can instantly lift Chelsea, which I am unsure if will be the case given the mixed responses from various teams following Coronavirus outbreaks.
Prediction: Aston Villa 1-1 Chelsea
Result: Aston Villa 1-3 Chelsea
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