Credit: Imago

Declan Carr

Thu 20 February 2025 17:15, UK

Aston Villa will be seeking a first Premier League win in six attempts when they take on Chelsea on Saturday.

Unai Emery’s Aston Villa side have drawn their last two, against Ipswich Town and then Liverpool, although they were unlucky to not beat the Premier League leaders.

The Villans sit in ninth place in the top flight but could find themselves within two points of the top four with a victory against the Blues on 22 February if other results go their way.

Aston Villa v Chelsea Preview

A second successive season in the Champions League looks unlikely for the B6 outfit after a miserable run recently.

Since the turn of the year, the Villans have won just twice in the league – against Everton and Leicester City – with draws racking up and threatening their lofty European ambitions despite beating both West Ham and Tottenham in the FA Cup.

In the last seven matches in the top flight, Emery’s side have picked up just ten points out of a possible 21, which is not good enough to secure another berth in Europe’s premiere competition as things stand.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have won just two of their last six in all competitions, with successive defeats to Brighton in the FA Cup and the league bursting Enzo Maresca’s bubble.

His Blues side were touted as title contenders in the early stages of the campaign after an impressive run, but they have been brought back down to earth recently and find themselves just four points above Villa.

Form Guide [all competitions]

Aston Villa: DDWLWD

Chelsea: LLWLWD

Aston Villa v Chelsea Team News

Emery will be unable to call upon Axel Disasi as he is on loan from Saturday’s opposition and cannot feature against his parent club.

The Spaniard is also expected to be without Amadou Onana but Ezri Konsa, Ross Barkley and Leon Bailey could all return to contention.

The visitors will be without Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana in their backline but Malo Gusto could return from injury.

Enzo Maresca is also understood to be without Romeo Lavia, Noni Madueke and Nicholas Jackson for the Villa Park contest.

Predicted lineups

Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Bogarde, Mings, Digne, McGinn, Tielemans, Asensio, Rogers, Rashford, Watkins

Chelsea: Jorgensen, Gusto, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Neto, Palmer, Sancho, Nkunku

Betting Odds

Aston Villa: 17/10

Draw: 12/5

Chelsea: 31/20

[All odds according to Bet365 as of 20 February)

Prediction: Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea

Villa’s league form has been poor since the start of the year but they should have enough to get past this Chelsea side considering their performance against Liverpool.

Few supporters will expect victory but Emery may be able to get his side back on track to secure Champions League qualification and compound the Blues’ recent woes.

Ollie Watkins will be up for the clash given his goal against the Reds, while Marcus Rashford was devastating down the wing and could be set for a similar impact here.