Aston Villa has been winless in its last five Premier League matches, and rather frustratingly, four of those have ended in draws. Most recently, on Wednesday night, they split the points with league leaders Liverpool. Unai Emery acknowledged after the game that a draw was a fair outcome for that highly competitive encounter.

The Lions took the lead at half - time. Goals from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins reversed the situation after Mohamed Salah had put Liverpool ahead. In an open and exciting game filled with numerous goal - scoring opportunities, Liverpool equalized through Trent Alexander - Arnold's deflected shot, salvaging a 2 - 2 draw.

Even though Villa has managed to win only six of its last 21 Premier League matches (with nine draws and six losses), Emery's team is in ninth place in the table. They still have a chance to secure Champions League football for the second consecutive season. They are just five points behind Manchester City in fourth place and four points behind Bournemouth in fifth and Chelsea in sixth respectively.

This season, no other Premier League team has drawn more home matches than Aston Villa (seven). However, they will still be looking forward to their return to Villa Park on Saturday. They have lost only one of their last 22 top - flight matches in front of their home fans, which was a 2 - 0 defeat to Arsenal in August.

However, Villa have come out on top in only four of their last 15 league encounters with teams from London (D6 L5), having previously won 10 consecutive games against capital-based clubs between April 2023 and February 2024, while they have also won just two of their previous 11 PL home meetings with Chelsea, beating them 1-0 in March 2014 and 2-1 in May 2021.

After enjoying an impressive 12-game unbeaten run (W9 D3) between November 3 and December 22, Chelsea's form has since taken a nosedive as they have won just three of their last 10 matches in all competitions, including three defeats in their last four.

The West Londoners will be keen to see the back of Brighton & Hove Albion, as they suffered back-to-back away defeats against the Seagulls in two different competitions, losing 2-1 in the FA Cup fourth round before going down 3-0 in the Premier League a week last Friday.

In their most recent defeat to Brighton, Chelsea failed to have a single shot on target for the first time in a Premier League game since September 2021 and Enzo Maresca, who labelled his side's performance as "the worst" since he took charge of the club, has seen his side drop down to sixth place in the table, albeit only one point behind the top four.

Maresca will be demanding a response from his players on Saturday and will be keen to see Chelsea's away form improve, as they have failed to win any of their last six matches on the road in all competitions (D2 L4) and have scored just two goals in their last five Premier League away fixtures (D2 L3).

There is reason for Chelsea to be optimistic of success at Villa Park, though, as they have won 13 Premier League away matches against Aston Villa, only winning more at Tottenham (16) and Southampton (15) in the division's history. The Blues can also take inspiration from their three-goal victory over Villa earlier this season.

Aston Villa will be without injured trio Pau Torres (ankle), Amadou Onana (thigh) and Boubacar Kamara (muscle), while Ezri Konsa, Leon Bailey (both unspecified) and Ross Barkley (calf) are all doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Chelsea loanee Axel Disasi is ineligible to face his parent club and Villa's defence is down to its bare bones, so Emery may call upon Lamare Bogarde to start in central defence alongside Tyrone Mings.

Marcus Rashford is yet to score for Villa since joining on loan from Manchester United, but he has scored four goals in eight home Premier League games against Chelsea and could retain his place on the left flank, with Morgan Rogers, Marco Asensio and Watkins also hoping to continue in attack.

As for Chelsea, Noni Madueke, Nicolas Jackson, Wesley Fofana, Omari Kellyman (all hamstring), Romeo Lavia (muscle), Marc Guiu (groin) and Mykhaylo Mudryk (suspended) are all unavailable for selection, while Benoit Badiashile (thigh) will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Reece James and Tosin Adarabioyo will be pushing to return in defence at the expense of Malo Gusto and Trevoh Chalobah, while Jadon Sancho is set to replace the injured Madueke and start on the left flank, allowing Pedro Neto to move over to the right.

Cole Palmer has failed to score or assist in his last five appearances, and has not registered an assist since Chelsea beat Villa on December 1. Nevertheless, the Englishman is expected to continue in a central attacking role with Christopher Nkunku, with both players potentially sharing false nine duties.

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Martinez; Garcia, Bogarde, Mings, Digne; Tielemans, McGinn; Rogers, Asensio, Rashford; Watkins

Chelsea possible starting lineup:

Jorgensen; James, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Nkunku