Here at Villa Park it’s a meeting of two teams who both need to get a move on if they are to return to the top four this season.
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has spoken of ‘mixed feelings’ after two draws with leaders Liverpool and relegation candidates Ipswich Town.
Chelsea have two wins from nine with manager Enzo Maresca finding himself under some pressure at Stamford Bridge.
Noni Madueke is out of the Chelsea line up, with Reece James coming in as skipper, but he has resisted the temptation to start Tyrique George in a bid to rediscover some form.
Marcus Rashford is back on the bench for Villa who have a tight schedule coming up across three competitions. Enery has made four changes from the team that drew with Liverpool - and he will be happy to see Ezri Konza fit to start.
Chelsea come into today's game having scored just two goals in their previous five away matches in the Premier League (D2 L3).
And that goal shy winless run follows Enzo Maresca's team scoring a total of nine in back-to-back fixtures, namely a 5-1 victory at Southampton and 4-3 success at Spurs,
In these last five, the Blues have underperformed their expected goals by an eyebrow-raising 4.8 (2 goals from an xG of 6.8).
