Chelsea hosts in-form Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League’s festive fixture on Saturday evening.
[The Blues came from behind to draw 2-2 at Newcastle United](https://thesportstoday.com/2025/12/20/joao-pedro-secures-comeback-draw-for-chelsea-against-newcastle/) last time out and will be looking to return to winning ways.
Villa defeated Manchester United 2-1 at Villa Park in their last outing, recording their 10th consecutive victory in all competitions, and could equal their all-time club record of 11 consecutive victories with a win at the Bridge.
**Match preview**
Chelsea have lost two of their last three Premier League home games against Aston Villa, though they did win this exact fixture 3-0 in December last season.
Aston Villa have won three of their five Premier League games against Chelsea under Unai Emery (D1 L1), as many as in their previous 20 against the Blues before the Spaniard’s arrival (D3 L14).
Having scored in 21 consecutive Premier League home games against Aston Villa between December 1998 and September 2021 (50 goals in total), Chelsea have now failed to score in two of their last three at Stamford Bridge against the Villans.
The Villans have won each of their last 10 matches in all competitions and could equal their all-time club record of 11 consecutive victories, set in both September 1897 and March 1914.
The Blues have already suffered two home defeats in the Premier League this season (W4 D2 L2), losing to Brighton in September (1-3) and Sunderland in October (1-2). If they lose here, they will have lost more home league matches this term (3) than they did in Enzo Maresca’s first full campaign in 2024/25 (W12 D5 L2).
Maresca’s side are unbeaten in the three Premier League games they’ve played this season against teams starting the day above them in the table, beating Liverpool 2-1 (October) and Tottenham 1-0 and drawing against Arsenal (both in November).
Unai Emery’s men have won their last seven league games, last having a longer run in the top flight between October and December 1910 (9).
Morgan Rogers has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than any other English player across the opening 17 matchdays this season (10 – 7 goals, 3 assists); he could be the third Villan to net 2+ goals in three consecutive appearances in the competition after Dean Saunders (1992) and Dion Dublin (1998).
**Team news**
**Chelsea**
Estevao Willian and Liam Delap are back in contention for selection after their respective injuries.
Levi Colwill, Dario Essugo and Romeo Lavia are the only absentees for the host.
**Aston Villa**
Harvey Elliott is ill, and he misses out on the trip to the capital.
Ross Barkley, Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres are out injured.
Evann Guessand is away with Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations.
**Predicted line-ups**
**Chelsea**: Robert Sánchez, Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella, Reece James, Moisés Caicedo, Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer, Alejandro Garnacho, and João Pedro.
**Aston Villa**: Emiliano Martínez, Matty Cash, Victor Lindelöf, Ezri Konsa, Ian Maatsen, Amadou Onana, Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn, Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins.