Chelsea is looking for their first victory after two consecutive matches without knowing a smile against two opponents that are considered much weaker, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth.

 

However, the Blues’ recent disappointing home performance has made fans doubt the ability of coach Mauricio Pochettino and his team to win 3 points in this match.

In fact, Chelsea only won 2, drew 5 and lost 5 in the last 12 matches at Stamford Bridge (only counting official matches). And also at home, they were just defeated 0-2 by Aston Villa last season, in which Ollie Watkins and John McGinn were the scorers for the away team.

 

While Chelsea is languishing in 14th place on the rankings after 5 rounds with 5 points, Aston Villa has 9 points and is ranked 7th. Even after just receiving a 2-3 defeat against Legia Warsaw in the UEFA Conference group stage League 2023/24, coach Unai Emery’s team is still confident to visit Stamford Bridge. Because even though they lost, Aston Villa was the better team, having twice as many shots (18 compared to 9), more shots on target (9 compared to 6) and overwhelming the number of blocked shots. (7 vs 1). Therefore, as long as they finish more effectively, Emery’s army will have points when leaving London.

Chelsea has a dense injury list of up to 12 people. However, there is some positive news before welcoming Aston Villa. The most expensive rookie Moises Caicedo – who suffered a slight injury after a series of international matches with the national team, can return in the match against Aston Villa.

Noni Madueke is also likely to play in this match when he feels comfortable and ready to play. In addition, the chances of Trevoh Chalobah, Benoit Badiashile, and Carney Cucurella to play in this match are 50/50. As for Wesley Fofana, Marcus Bettinelli, Reece James, Carney Chukwuemeka, Marcus Bettinelli, Armando Broja… still have to sit out due to injury.

 

For his part, coach Unai Emery will not have the services of Emiliano Buendia, Tyrone Mings, Tim Iroegbunam and Diego Carlos due to injury. However, Aston Villa still believes that it will win points in London thanks to the brilliance of pillars such as Douglas Luiz, Leon Bailey, Moussa Diaby, Leon Bailey – each of whom scored 2 goals in the Premier League 2023/24.

In addition, coach Emery can also hope that Bertrand Traore and Jacob Ramsey will return, or at least will come on the field in the second half when the Spanish coach adjusts his tactics to find a difference against Chelsea.