Looking to bounce back from Thursday’s Conference League defeat in Warsaw, Aston Villa take on Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea this Sunday. Here’s the latest heading into this game-week six fixture at Stamford Bridge…
Words by: Liam Davies
THE BUILD UP
Unai Emery’s side were taught a lesson in the Polish capital. If anyone thought Thursday’s game would be a walkover, they were certainly wrong. Legia Warsaw were far better than their Premier League counterparts on the night and thoroughly deserved their 3-2 victory to begin life in Group E. Villa, meanwhile, looked second best all game and lacked any cutting edge throughout. There is a plenty of work to be done.
The home side opened the scoring in just the third minute at the Stadion Wojska Polskiego, after the Villans’ defence was caught napping, allowing former QPR man Paweł Wszołek to nip in at the back-post and tap home. Jhon Durán would equalise moments later, heading home the rebound of Nicolò Zaniolo’s long-range pile-driver which was pushed onto the post by ‘keeper Kacper Tobiasz. The Legionnaires would take the lead again in the 26th minute through Ernest Muçi, after yet another defensive disaster, before Lucas Digne’s deflected strike put the scores even heading into the break.
Kosta Runjaić’s side would go ahead for the third time in the match in the 51st minute, with Albanian forward Muçi bagging his brace on the night. A series of changes, introducing the likes of Ollie Watkins, Moussa Diaby and Douglas Luiz failed to inspire any sort of late comeback and the game would finish 3-2, leaving Legia joint-top of group and Emery’s Villa bottom, as a result.
The other fixture in Group E was just as entertaining, with underdogs HŠK Zrinjski coming from 3-0 down to pull off an extraordinary 4-3 victory at home to last year’s semi-finalists AZ Alkmaar. The Bosnian outfit unexpectedly sit top of the group on goals scored, with Alkmaar in third.
Attention turns back to the Premier League however, and Villa must now prepare for a tough test in the capital. The West-Midlands side were victorious last time out, defeating Crystal Palace by three goals to one, following a late comeback that saw Jhon Duran, Douglas Luiz and Leon Bailey all score after the 87th minute.
This weekend’s opposition, Chelsea, enter the upcoming game on the back of a lacklustre 0-0 draw away to Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. The Blues had several chances throughout the 90 minutes, but were ultimately wasteful and failed to convert, leaving Pochettino’s side in 14th place after the first five games.
Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery believes the upcoming game at Stamford Bridge will be a challenge, appreciating the difficulty of the task ahead. Speaking on tomorrow’s opponents, Emery said: “They’re a very good team with a very good coach. Previously, they were contenders to be in the top seven teams in the Premier League. It’s a tough match.”
Last year’s game at Chelsea finished 2-0 to the claret and blue outfit, with Ollie Watkins and John McGinn grabbing the goals. Can Aston Villa make it back to back wins at the Bridge and bounce back from their mid-week defeat in Poland or will Pochettino’s Chelsea claim just their second league victory of the season?
TEAM NEWS
ASTON VILLA
Midfielder Jacob Ramsey is in contention for his first start of the season, after recovering from the metatarsal injury – suffered during the U21 Euros in Georgia/Romania – that left the 22-year-old sidelined for both pre-season and the beginning of the 2023/24 term.
Ramsey claimed his first few minutes of the campaign on Thursday night, replacing Nicolò Zaniolo in the 67th minute. Last season’s young player of the season looked bright upon his introduction but missed a golden chance late on to level the game.
Left-back Àlex Moreno is another player who could make his first start of the season at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. The Spaniard, like Ramsey, missed the first few games of the campaign through injury (hamstring), but has since recovered and with Lucas Digne playing the full 90 minutes in Warsaw, the number 15 is in line to begin the game in the Aston Villa back four.
Unai Emery has confirmed that defender Diego Carlos is close to a return, following his ‘small’ injury sustained during the 3-0 defeat at Anfield earlier this month.
Speaking after Thursday’s Conference League loss, Emery said: “We are thinking maybe the next week he [Diego Carlos] could be ready to start training with the group. We can use other players with experiences like him and then we can try to play matches like we are playing, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday. We can use and practise different tactical decisions, we can play being stronger.”
Elsewhere, Bertrand Traoré is unavailable due to injury, and Tyrone Mings, Emi Buendía and Tim Iroegbunam remain out on a long-term basis.
CHELSEA
Chelsea will be without captain Reece James for the upcoming fixture against Aston Villa. The right-back picked up a hamstring injury during the season opener against Liverpool and, whilst originally expected to complete a comeback after the first international break, has recently had his return date pushed back to October due to a minor setback in his recovery.
Mauricio Pochettino could also be without as many as eleven other players, excluding James, this weekend. The Argentinian head coach’s start to life at Chelsea has been significantly hampered by injuries to key players of his squad and this problem continues into the upcoming fixture against Aston Villa.
Christopher Nkunku, who joined from RB Leipizig for a reported £60 million this summer, picked up a knee injury during the Blues’ pre-season test against Borussia Dortmund and is expected to miss the rest of the year following surgery, with a return rumoured to be around the festive period/new year.
Joining Nkunku in the injury room is former Villan Carney Chukwuemeka who, like the Frenchmen, required knee surgery and could miss the remainder of the year, as a result. Defender Benoît Badiashile has recently returned to training after recovering from a hamstring injury, but is not expected back until October and will therefore miss the upcoming game at Stamford Bridge.
Elsewhere, record signing Moisés Caicedo and winger Noni Madueke, despite missing last week’s stalemate with the Cherries, are expected to return to the side this Sunday after overcoming small injury concerns, whilst Roméo Lavia, who arrived from Southampton in the summer, suffered an ankle injury on international duty and will subsequently miss the next month or two, as a result.
Forward Armando Broja could earn his first minutes of the season after recovering from the devastating knee-injury that kept the Albanian sidelined for the majority of the 2022/23 campaign, but defender Trevor Chalobah will miss this one with a hamstring problem.
Wesley Fofana is Chelsea’s sole long-term absentee after suffering an ACL injury in pre-season, and back-up ‘keeper Marcus Bettinelli is also unavailable. Marc Cucurella, who made the switch from Brighton in 2022, is another name who is in contention to return tomorrow afternoon after missing the visit to the Vitality last week.
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A BIT ON CHELSEA
Chelsea have spent over a whopping £1 billion across three windows since Todd Boehly took reigns of the club from Roman Abramovich in May 2022. The American businessman, who is accompanied by Mark Walter, Hansjörg Wyss and Clearlake Capital in joint ownership of the West-London outfit, oversaw the departure of 2021 UEFA Champions League winning manager Thomas Tuchel, after a major falling out, during the first few weeks of the 2022/23 season, replacing the German with Brighton and Hove Albion’s Graham Potter, before eventually bringing back club legend Frank Lampard as the head coach.
Mauricio Pochettino has since been appointed (May 2023) and has endured a struggled start to life at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have won just once so far in the league this season (3-0 victory over Luton), losing twice and drawing on two other occasions, placing them 14th in the table heading into tomorrow’s big game. Pochettino’s side did register a victory over EFL League Two’s AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup second round; they will take on Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton next up.
Mauricio Pochettino believes tomorrow’s fixture will be difficult and provided an assessment on his side when speaking to the media yesterday afternoon. He said: They have a good squad, they are prepared to compete in Europe.
“For us, because of the circumstances, against Bournemouth 15 players then we need to use three or four players from the academy. We were talking, we need time. Of course we will be competitive when the moment arrives.”
The Argentinian also spoke on his relationship with Unai Emery and other members of the club’s backroom staff. He said: “We have a good relationship, he started to coach earlier than me, I was after. I was in Spain in different clubs. He is a great coach, and I have a good relationship with the staff of Aston Villa. It will be good to see him.”
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MY PREDICTED LINE-UP
Let’s take a look at my predicted line-up for this upcoming fixture at Stamford Bridge…
Do you agree? Who makes your side? Share yours now and let’s discuss?
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One Response
Agree with your expected line up… But may be too soon for Ramsey.
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