Chelsea travel to Villa Park and will face Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa in round 19 of the English Premier League. This is the second league meeting between the two clubs, and the Blues were victorious in the reverse fixture.
Chelsea scored three past Aston Villa and secured three points. The stats show that Aston Villa created more attacks and attempted more shots but were unable to score a goal. Chelsea attempted 12 shots with a shot accuracy rate of 33.33%. Villa, on the other hand, attempted 18 shots, and they also had the same shot accuracy rate. The above viz shows that Villa players attempted ten shots in the first half and created a lot of threats towards the end of the match. The Blues, on the other hand, attempted five shots in the first half and seven in the second half.
Aston Villa sit in the top half of the table, and their last match got postponed due to coronavirus pandemic. They have won seven games, drawn one, and lost nine games. Steven Gerrard’s men have scored 23 goals and conceded 25. The expected goal rate of the team is 19.7, and they average 1.06 xG per 90. Villa have attempted 177 shots this season and average more than ten shots per match. They have managed to hit the target 59 times with a shot accuracy rate of 0.33.
Ollie Watkins has already scored two goals in December and has taken his goalscoring tally to five goals. Steven Gerrard is yet to disclose the missing players for Aston Villa. However, Nakamba, Bailey, and Traore are out with injuries.
Chelsea sit third in the league table with 11 wins in 18 games. The Blues have scored 39 goals and conceded 12 – the second-best defensive record. Chelsea played out a disappointing goalless draw against Wolves in the previous fixture, and the players lacked a goalscoring touch.
Tuchel’s men have the third-best attacking stats in the division. The xG rate of the team is 33.04, and the players have attempted 272 shots with a shot accuracy rate of 37.8%. 170 shots have been attempted from inside the opposition’s penalty box. Chelsea have attempted the third-highest number of positional attacks and an average of 28.88 positional attacks per 90.
Mason Mount leads the goalscoring chart for the Blues. The attacking midfielder has scored seven goals and provided four assists. Romelu Lukaku and Callum Hudson-Odoi have recovered from coronavirus, but the manager might not risk their health by giving them a start. Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho can feature in the midfield along with N’Golo Kante. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Kai Havertz are suffering from coronavirus and Ziyech is also doubtful for this match.
The Blues will look to return to winning ways after drawing their last two matches. They have conceded eight goals in six matches, and the manager will expect his side to bounce back from this disappointing run. Steven Gerrard, on the other hand, will expect his side to play well as they have got adequate rest before the fixture.
