Chelsea will host Aston Villa on Sunday at the Stamford Bridge in search of their second win in the 2023/24 Premier League season.
After five league games under Mauricio Pochettino, the Blues have managed to amassed just five points, while their visitors will aim to crack the top six with what would be a second straight win in the English’s top flight.
Chelsea have not had the best of starts to the new season and will be eager to put up a better show at home against Unai Emery’s men, who will want to return to winning ways after suffering a defeat in their UEFA Europa Conference League opener.
The Blues struggled throughout last season and ended up finishing 12th in the league. While they have spent millions on new signings and have a new manager in Pochettino, things have not changed much. They are currently 14th on the points table, with five points in their five outings.
The West London club have managed just one win and two draws in the new season. And, they will be eager to make it two wins when they host Aston Villa. The Blues are heading into this encounter on the back of a 0-0 draw against Bournemouth and will surely look to put up a better show this time around.
The visitors, on the other hand, made a decent start to the new season under Unai Emery. They have won three out of their five matches and are currently 7th in the league table with nine points in five outings.
Head-to-head:
– Aston Villa won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in April and can register consecutive Premier League victories against Chelsea for the first time in 30 years.
-The visitors haven’t managed back-to-back away league wins versus the Blues since a run of three from 1930 to 1933.
– Chelsea have only won two of their 17 most recent league matches and have registered just four home league victories in the past 18 attempts, beating Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Leeds United and Luton Town.
– Chelsea’s solitary victory last season in their 20 top-flight fixtures against the teams that finished in the top half of the table was 2-0 at Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa in October 2022.
– Villa have won just one of their past seven Premier League away games, at Burnley last month, while their only top-flight clean sheet in 10 on the road came in a 2-0 win at Chelsea on 1 April.
Their five Premier League fixtures this season have produced 21 goals, second only to the 22 in matches involving Brighton prior to this weekend.
Aston Villa were unbeaten in all four Premier League games in London under Unai Emery.
