Aston Villa put their 10-match win streak on the line when they visit Chelsea in a top-four clash at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
WATCH — Chelsea v Aston Villa
For live updates and highlights throughout Chelsea vs Aston Villa, check out PST’s live blog coverage below.
How to watch Chelsea vs Aston Villa live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 12:30pm ET Saturday
Venue: Stamford Bridge — West London
TV Channel: NBC
Streaming: Watch live on NBC.com
Chelsea vs Aston Villa live updates, score: 12:30pm ET kickoff
Chelsea lineup
Sanchez, James, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Neto, Palmer, Garnacho, Pedro
Aston Villa lineup
Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, McGInn, Buendia, Rogers, Malen
Chelsea vs Aston Villa preview
Seven of those wins have come in the Premier League, as Unai Emery’s Villans have surged into a three-team title race with Arsenal and Manchester City. Villa enter the weekend three points back of the former and one behind the latter, with both of the aforementioned rivals kicking off earlier Saturday.
Chelsea have slumped out of the title race since claiming status with an impressive 10-man draw with Arsenal on November 30. The Blues have won just one of four Premier League matches in December, dropping points in three away matches with a loss at Leeds and draws at Bournemouth and Newcastle.
The Blues did beat Everton at the Bridge 2-0 on December 13, and boast home wins over Barcelona and Liverpool this season, too.
Chelsea team news, focus
OUT: Romeo Lavia (thigh), Dario Essugo (thigh), Levi Colwill (torn ACL - MORE), Mykhailo Mudryk (suspension)
Aston Villa team news, focus
OUT: Evann Guessand (international duty - AFCON), Pau Torres (calf), Tyrone Mings (hamstring), Ross Barkley (unspecified) | QUESTIONABLE: Harvey Elliott (illness)
Chelsea vs Aston Villa prediction
Belief is buzzing through the Villa team right now but advanced metrics show a Chelsea side that has been superior to their visitors despite decent-length absences for Cole Palmer and some other key pieces. Put the Blues down for at least a point on Saturday. Chelsea 2-1 Aston Villa i.