Wednesday’s clash between Aston Villa and Chelsea had huge implications for the race for UEFA Champions League football.
It’s almost a certainty that England is going to get an extra Champions League spot, so the race for top five right now is really tight.
Aston Villa were comfortably inside the top three and even in the title race for a little while this season, but have since hit a rocky run of form and now are in danger of falling outside the top five after the loss to Chelsea on Wednesday.
Liam Rosenior’s side had been winless in their last three Premier League matches, dropping points from winning positions against Leeds United and Burnley before losing to Arsenal in the North West London derby on Sunday.
Unai Emery’s side had been overperforming drastically for most of the season, and now they are starting to feel the effects of negative regression.
Rosenior put together a perfect tactical plan to exploit Aston Villas weaknesses and delivered a statement win, boosting their chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
In this tactical analysis, we will examine how Chelsea’s aggression in possession exploited Aston Villa’s high line, how the Blues effectively overloaded the wide areas, and Aston Villa’s struggles to build out of the back.
Aston Villa Vs Chelsea Lineups & Formations
Unai Emery lined his team up in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation
Emiliano Martínez occupied his usual spot in goal behind the centre-backs of Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa.
Ian Maatsen started at left-back, while Matty Cash started once again at right-back.
Amadou Onana and Douglas Luiz started together as the two defensive midfielders for the sixth straight match.
Emi Buendia started as the number 10 with Morgan Rogers and Leon Bailey alongside him as the two wingers.
Ollie Watkins started once again up top as the striker.
Unai Emery made five substitutions in the match.
In the 46th minute, Lamare Bogarde came on for Cash.
In the 63rd minute, Alysson Edward came on for Bailey, Jadon Sancho came on for Buendia, and Ross Barkley came on for Luiz.
In the 72nd minute, Emery made his final substitution, bringing on Tammy Abraham for Watkins.
Liam Rosenior lined Chelsea up in a 4-3-3 formation.
Filip Jørgensen lined up in goal behind Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana as the centre-back pairing.
Jorrel Hato started at left-back, while Malo Gusto started at right-back.
Reece James, Moisés Caicedo, and Enzo Fernández started together as the three midfielders.
Alejandro Garnacho started at left wing, while Cole Palmer started at right wing.
João Pedro started once again up top for the Blues.
In the 75th minute, Roméo Lavia came on for Gusto.
In the 77th minute, Tosin Adarabioyo came on for Fofana, and Marc Cucurella came on for Fernández.
The final substitution came in the 85th minute, and Andrey Santos came on for Palmer.
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Chelsea’s Aggressive Passing
One of the criticisms of Enzo Maresca is that he was often too conservative in possession.
He often wanted Chelsea to maintain numerical superiority in the middle of the pitch and would consistently drop both Palmer and Fernández deeper to make that happen.
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