Chelsea will be hoping to overturn another winless Premier League run when they travel to face top four rivals Aston Villa on Wednesday at 7:30pm.
The Blues were beaten by Arsenal at the weekend, dropping them to sixth in the table.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Aston Villa
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Fofana, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Garnacho; Pedro
Liam Rosenior’s men are now winless in their past three league games, drawing the other two. It leaves them six points outside the top four — with the final spot currently occupied by hosts Aston Villa.
Chelsea are winless in their last two league visits to Villa Park and are also looking to avoid losing home and away to the Villans in the league for the first time since 1989-90.
Chelsea team news vs Aston Villa
Another game, another red card for Chelsea. The Blues will be without Pedro Neto after his red card against Arsenal, forcing a change to the attack. But Chelsea will be able to call upon Wesley Fofana, who served a one-game suspension for his red card in the previous match.
With Neto suspended, Alejandro Garnacho is the likely replacement on the left side of Chelsea’s attack. Estevao and Jamie Gittens are both still injured and won’t be available for the trip to the Midlands.
Garnarcho is likely to join Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Pedro in the attack. Rosenior did play with more of a 4-3-3 last time out, but a return to the 4-2-3-1 could come.
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With Fernandez pushed further forward again, Moises Caicedo and Andrey Santos are set to be the double pivot. Romeo Lavia made his return from injury at the weekend, but a start is unlikely here. Rosenior will surely leave him to start until the FA Cup game against Championship side Wrexham.
Fofana should return to the defence in place of Mamadou Sarr, who didn’t look out of his depth against Arsenal. There may also be a change at left-back. Jorrel Hato started, but Malo Gusto may come in to replace him. Marc Cucurella could return from injury, but may not start.
Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah are expected to complete the defence, with Robert Sanchez in goal. Levi Colwill and Dario Essugo remain out injured.
Chelsea’s strange away record
Chelsea have a poor record going into this game. The Blues have lost eight of their past 10 midweek games away from home in the Premier League. That includes their two such matches this season, beaten by Leeds United and Fulham.
But Chelsea do sit fourth in the Premier League away table with 22 points from their 14 matches on the road so far this season.
The Blues are top scorers away from home in the Premier League this season. They’ve scored 26 goals from 25.55 Expected Goals, so they’re overperforming. Chelsea have also registered 28.08 xG on Target away from home this season. So their shot placement has been improving their chances of scoring.
They also boast a defence. Chelsea have conceded 17 goals away from home this season, with only four teams conceding fewer in the Premier League. The Blues have also conceded 2.53 goals less than their xG Conceded.