Date: Saturday 27th December 2025
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
It’s time for our annual festive stress test
as we welcome Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge – and by “welcome,” we
of course mean we hope they forget where the away dressing room is.
Villa, annoyingly, are tearing up the league
with ten straight wins – we’re clinging to fourth like it’s the last mulled
wine at the Christmas party, desperately hoping someone spills theirs before we
do. Meanwhile, Chelsea, under Maresca, continue to be as consistent as the
British summer: you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get – a sunny
display of brilliance, or a torrential downpour of confusion.
Our form’s been about as steady as a turkey
on roller skates: just one win in our last four, and while we did show a bit of
backbone to nick a point off Newcastle, the only thing missing from our abject
display in the first half were the pipe and slippers. If we do that against
Villa, the game will be well over by half-time, no second chances. Morgan
Rogers has been running rings around everyone lately – so unless we’ve issued
the team with industrial-strength Velcro suits, he could be slipping past us
quicker than a January transfer rumour.
Villa certainly won’t be trembling at the thought of playing at the Bridge; in fact, with two wins out of their last three visits, they’ll probably swagger in like they’re house-hunting in SW6. Time for Chelsea to remind them whose house it actually is – or at the very least, to remember where the goal is.
MANAGER’S VIEWS
Going into today’s game, Enzo Maresca says “It
will be a very tough game for us and we will have to be at our best because
Aston Villa are playing very well. They have a clear way of playing and they
are very organised both on and off the ball. They are full of confidence in
this moment, but we are at home and we will be trying to get the three points
as we always do. We will work hard and continue to grow.”
Aston Villa manager, Unai Emery, meanwhile says
“We respect a lot the difficulties of the Premier League and of playing
against Chelsea. They are favourites to be in the top four and favourites to
fight for the Premier League trophy because they have very good players, a very
good coach and they are getting better. They’re the champions of the Club World
Cup, and it means a lot. Now they are behind us, but they’re feeling strong and
playing with confidence. They’re competing very well against the better teams. They
beat Liverpool at home, they competed fantastically against Arsenal, drawing,
and they beat Barcelona as well in the Champions League, and the last match at
home against Everton.
They are feeling strong at home. How we are
feeling now is very important with our momentum. Tomorrow is a very huge test
for us. It’s a huge test at Chelsea, a huge test away, a huge test of how we
are going to respond away against one team like Chelsea. We are very motivated
and excited about how we are going to face them tomorrow. We are focussing this
match strongly to try and get our best.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Chelsea, For Chelsea, Levi Colwill (knee), and Romeo Lavia, Dario Essugo (both thigh) remain out injured. Mykhaylo Mudryk is still suspended. Estevao Willian (muscle) and Liam Delap (shoulder) have been cleared to play.
For Aston Villa, Ross Barkley (knee), Tyrone
Mings (hamstring) and Pau Torres (calf) are out injured, whilst Harvey Elliott
is ill.
TEAMS
CHELSEA
(Possible line-up): Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Fernandez,
Caicedo; Neto, Palmer, Garnacho; Joao Pedro
ASTON VILLA (Possible
line-up): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen; Kamara, Onana; McGinn,
Tielemans, Rogers; Watkins
LAST SEASON
Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa (1st December 2024)
CURRENT FORM (PL)
CHELSEA: WDLDWD
ASTON VILLA: WWWWWW
OTHER STUFF
- Chelsea have lost two of their last three
Premier League home games against Aston Villa
- Aston Villa have won three of their five
Premier League games against Chelsea under Unai Emery
- Chelsea won this fixture last December
- Chelsea have failed to score in two of their
last three at Stamford Bridge against Aston Villa
- Aston Villa have won each of their last 10
matches in all competitions
PREDICTION
Sportsmole: Chelsea 2-2 Aston Villa
