Predicted Aston Villa XI vs Chelsea: Smith to make one change, 23-yr-old to return – originally posted on Sportslens.com
Aston Villa host Chelsea in the Premier League later today they will be looking to finish the season on a high with a win over the Blues.
Villa managed to hold Chelsea to a draw at Stamford Bridge earlier this season and they will fancy their chances of picking up a positive result here.
With the fans back in attendance, the home side will be determined to put on a quality performance and fix their miserable head to head record against Chelsea in recent seasons.
The Blues have won six of their last seven away matches against Villa in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have a lot to play for and a defeat here could be a catastrophe for them in the context of Champions League qualification.
Thomas Tuchel’s side are currently third in the table but the likes of Liverpool and Leicester are just one point behind them.
The Blues will need to win here in order to ensure their place in the Champions League next season and it will be interesting to see if the players can step up and get the job done.
Villa will be full of confidence heading into this contest after their impressive away win over Tottenham Hotspur.
Dean Smith will be without the services of Trezeguet, Matthew Cash, Morgan Sanson due to injuries and Ross Barkley will not be able to face his parent club.
Predicted Aston Villa starting line-up: Martinez, Konsa, Hause, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Luiz, Traore, Grealish, El Ghazi, Watkins
Smith is likely to make one change to the side that managed to pick up a win over Spurs last time out.
23-year-old Douglas Luiz is set to come back into the side in place of Marvelous Nakamba, whose error led to a goal against Spurs.