Aston Villa vs Chelsea Prediction and Analysis: Home team gets lucky.
The match between Aston Villa and Chelsea in the English Premier League will take place at 00:30 on February 23rd. Nghe An Newspaper analyzes the form, provides football commentary, and predicts the score.
Latest Aston Villa vs Chelsea team news
Ahead of the match, Aston Villa faced squad difficulties due to the absence of several key players. Pau Torres (ankle), Amadou Onana (thigh), and Boubacar Kamara (muscle) were definitely unavailable. In addition, the availability of Ezri Konsa, Leon Bailey (doubtful), and Ross Barkley (calf) remained questionable and needed careful assessment before kick-off.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that Axel Disasi is ineligible to play due to his Chelsea loan spell. This severe shortage of personnel in defense may force manager Unai Emery to give Lamare Bogarde the opportunity to partner Tyrone Mings in central defense.
In attack, although Marcus Rashford hasn't scored a goal for Villa since joining on loan from Manchester United, he still boasts an impressive record with 4 goals in his last 8 home Premier League matches against Chelsea. He is likely to continue to be trusted in the left wing position. In addition, Morgan Rogers, Marco Asensio, and Ollie Watkins are also competing for a place in the attacking line.
On the other side, Chelsea also faced personnel difficulties. Noni Madueke, Nicolas Jackson, Wesley Fofana, Omari Kellyman (all hamstring injuries), Romeo Lavia (muscle), Marc Guiu (groin), and Mykhaylo Mudryk (suspended) were all ruled out. In addition, Benoit Badiashile's (thigh) fitness needed to be assessed before the match to determine his availability.
Reece James and Tosin Adarabioyo are working hard to secure a starting spot, replacing Malo Gusto and Trevoh Chalobah in defense. Jadon Sancho is likely to be deployed in place of Madueke on the left wing, thus pushing Pedro Neto to the right.
Despite not scoring or assisting in his last five games, Cole Palmer is still expected to be a key player in the starting lineup. His last assist was in Chelsea's victory over Villa on December 1st. The English player is likely to be used in a central attacking position, partnering with Christopher Nkunku. Both will likely take turns playing the "false nine" role.
Latest predicted lineups for Aston Villa vs Chelsea
Aston Villa:
Martinez; Garcia, Bogarde, Mings, Digne; Tielemans, McGinn; Rogers, Asensio, Rashford; Watkins
Chelsea:
Jorgensen; James, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Nkunku
Latest Aston Villa vs Chelsea football match prediction
Aston Villa are going through a disappointing run of form with five consecutive Premier League matches without a win, including four draws. Most recently, they shared points with league leaders Liverpool midweek. Manager Unai Emery admitted the draw accurately reflected the back-and-forth nature of the game.
Although Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins gave Villa the lead twice after Mohamed Salah's opening goal, Liverpool managed to equalize 2-2 thanks to Trent Alexander-Arnold. Statistics show that Villa have only won 6 of their last 21 Premier League matches (9 draws, 6 losses), however, their chances of competing for a top-four spot remain wide open as they are only 5 points behind Manchester City (fourth place) and 4 points behind both Bournemouth and Chelsea (fifth and sixth place respectively).
Aston Villa's home ground, Villa Park, seems to be bringing them luck and a strong foundation. They have drawn seven home games this season – the highest number in the entire league. Villa have also only lost one of their last 22 home Premier League matches, a 0-2 defeat against Arsenal in August. However, Villa's recent record against London teams is not very impressive, winning only four of their last 15 matches (six draws, five losses). Prior to that, they had a run of 10 consecutive wins against London opponents from April 2023 to February 2024. Notably, Chelsea are not an easy opponent, with Villa winning only two of their last eleven home Premier League matches against them, in March 2014 (1-0) and May 2021 (2-1).
On the other hand, Chelsea enjoyed an impressive 12-match unbeaten run (9 wins, 3 draws) from the beginning of November to the end of December. However, their form has declined significantly, winning only 3 of their last 10 matches in all competitions, and suffering 3 defeats in their last 4 games.
The London club has just suffered two consecutive defeats against Brighton, 1-2 in the FA Cup fourth round and 0-3 in the Premier League. Notably, Chelsea failed to register a single shot on target in their most recent loss, something that hasn't happened since September 2021. Manager Enzo Maresca called it Chelsea's "worst" performance since he took over, and this has pushed the team down to sixth place in the table, although they are only one point behind the top four.
Maresca will undoubtedly demand a strong response from his players in the upcoming match. This is especially true given Chelsea's current run of six winless away games across all competitions (two draws, four defeats), and the fact that they have only scored two goals in their last five away Premier League matches (two draws, three defeats).
Despite their recent dip in form, Chelsea have reason to be optimistic going into their match against Aston Villa. They have won 13 away games against Villa in the Premier League – more than any other opponent except Tottenham (16) and Southampton (15) in the history of the league. Furthermore, "The Blues" can rediscover the confidence and inspiration from their convincing 3-0 victory against Villa in the first leg of this season.
Latest Aston Villa vs Chelsea score prediction
Based on the above football analysis, we and leading football websites worldwide have provided our predictions for the match.Aston Villa vs Chelseaas follows:
- Sportsmole:Aston Villa 2-0 Chelsea
- WhoScore:Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea
- Our newspaper predicts:Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea
When and where can I watch Aston Villa vs Chelsea live?
To watch the Aston Villa vs Chelsea match live in the English Premier League, taking place at 00:30 on February 23rd, viewers can tune in to the following channels:K+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. We hope you enjoy watching football.
