Aston Villa will welcome Chelsea to Villa Park on Saturday, 22 February in a huge Premier League match in the race for Champions League football.
The Villains have been slowly sliding down the table in recent weeks and are now five league matches without a win so they will be eager to pick up all three points on Saturday.
Chelsea aren't in great form, either, and currently find themselves a point behind Man City in fourth place after two losses from their last three league outings.
How the bookies view it: A tough match to call
The bookies aren't convinced either way and have priced all three results similarly. BoyleSports consider Chelsea to be the narrow favourites and have priced them at 7/5 to take three points with them back to London. Meanwhile, a win for Aston Villa has been priced at 6/4 and the draw is at 11/4.
Recent head-to-head: Advantage Chelsea
Chelsea have the better of the recent head-to-head record between the two sides and they are unbeaten in their last four matches against Aston Villa (two wins and two draws). Their recent record at Villa Park is excellent, too, with three wins and one draw from their last four visits to the stadium. Aston Villa's last home triumph over Chelsea came back in May 2021.
Players to watch: Plenty of England stars on show
There are plenty of players taking to the field on Saturday who will want to be part of Thomas Tuchel's first England squad next month and a primetime game like this is a perfect opportunity to show the new manager that they are capable of performing at the highest level.
For Aston Villa, all eyes will once again be on Marcus Rashford as he looks to recover his career on loan in the Midlands. The 27-year-old is yet to score a goal for his new club but has looked bright at times across all three of his appearances so far. Ollie Watkins will also be keen to impress and scored on Wednesday night against Liverpool.
For Chelsea, Cole Palmer will be looking to return to his best form after his first patchy spell in a Chelsea shirt. The former Man City man is now five matches without a goal in all competitions and his lack of form has coincided with Chelsea's dip.
Predicted line-ups
Aston Villa have six players out for this one with Pau Torres, Amadou Onana, Boubacar Kamara, Ezri Konsa, Leon Bailey and Ross Barkley all in the treatment room. Axel Disasi is ineligible due to the fact Chelsea are his parent club. The Blues have issues of their own with Noni Madueke, Nicolas Jackson, Wesley Fofana, Omari Kellyman, Romeo Lavia and Marc Guiu all out.
Aston Villa: Martinez – Garcia, Bogarde, Mings, Digne – McGinn, Tielemans – Rogers, Asensio, Rashford – Watkins
Chelsea: Jorgensen – James, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella – Fernandez, Caicedo – Neto, Palmer, Sancho – Nkunku
Anything else catch the eye?
Aston Villa have been racking up the draws in recent weeks which makes the price of 11/4 on another one this weekend very attractive. The Villains have drawn four of their last five Premier League matches so it would hardly be a shock.
This English Premier League match between Aston Villa and Chelsea will be played on Feb 22, 2025 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best Aston Villa vs Chelsea prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
