Chelsea vs Aston Villa LIVE: Premier League latest score and confirmed lineups | Football

Chelsea welcome Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge this evening in a match that could prove pivotal to the Premier League title race.

Enzo Maresca’s side positioned themselves as title contenders following their 1-1 draw with Arsenal a month ago, but they’ve won just one of their four games since and begin the day 10 points behind the league leaders.

Thankfully for the Blues, Liam Delap and Estevao should be back in the squad after recovering from injury, while Cole Palmer is said to be fit enough to play the full 90 minutes.

And he most likely will be required to do that, as Villa have won 16 of their last 18 games across all competitions and sit third in the table, just three points off the Gunners.

Metro’s LIVE matchday blog will bring you all the build-up, confirmed team news and starting XIs, goal updates and minute-by-minute coverage 

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Around the grounds

Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Premier League
(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The 3pm games have just finished and most notably, Arsenal have held on to beat Brighton 2-1 and remain two points clear at the top.

Liverpool have defeated Wolves by the same scoreline to overtake Chelsea in the table, for now…

Here are the rest of today’s results:

Brentford 4-1 Bournemouth

Burnley 0-0 Everton

Nottingham Forest 1-2 Man City

West Ham 0-1 Fulham

Match odds

Chelsea v Aston Villa - Premier League
(Photo by Chelsea Football Club/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Chelsea have won just one of their last five league games but will climb back into the top four with a win.

Following a poor start to the season, Villa have now won 16 of their last 18 games across all competitions. At the start of the day, they were just three points behind leaders Arsenal and seven in front of Chelsea.

Here are the latest match odds courtesy of Betfair:

Chelsea win – 3/4

Draw – 29/10

Aston Villa win – 7/2

Shearer’s prediction

Chelsea v Aston Villa - Premier League
(Photo by Luke Walker/Getty Images)

Aston Villa need a win today to keep pace with title rivals Arsenal and Man City but defeat for Chelsea would surely end their dreams of lifting the trophy.

Premier League legend and Betfair ambassador Alan Shearer has delivered his prediction for the big match:

‘Chelsea were brilliant in the second half against Newcastle. First half, they couldn’t string a pass together because Newcastle’s pressing was great. This is a tough one to predict because Villa are flying, beating whoever is in front of them, full of confidence.

‘I wasn’t that impressed with Chelsea defensively at the weekend. I’m going to go for an away win for Villa just because of the form they’re in.’

Team news

Chelsea v Aston Villa - Premier League
(Photo by Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Enzo Maresca makes two changes from the Chelsea team that drew 2-2 with Newcastle last time out, as Wesley Fofana and Malo Gusto drop out.

Enzo Fernandez returns, while Benoit Badiashile – somewhat surprisingly – comes into the defence.

Two changes for Aston Villa as well: Donyell Malen and Emi Buendia replace Ollie Watkins and Amadou Onana.

Confirmed Aston Villa starting XI

Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Buendia, Rogers, Malen

Subs: Bizot, Digne, Garcia, Bogarde, Hemmings, Onana, Sancho, Watkins, Jimoh-Aloba

Confirmed Chelsea starting XI

Chelsea XI: Sanchez, James, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Neto, Palmer, Garnacho, Pedro

Subs: Jorgensen, Gusto, Acheampong, Tosin, Fofana, Santos, Estevao, Gittens, Delap

Welcome!

Newcastle United v Chelsea - Premier League
(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Good afternoon and welcome to the Metro’s LIVE coverage of the Premier League clash between Chelsea and Aston Villa.

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas and are ready for some festive footie fun.

The all-important team news is on the way…

Chelsea vs Aston Villa LIVE: Premier League latest score and confirmed lineups | Football

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