HP Terbaru 2023 – Aston Villa test their winning run at Stamford Bridge

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By Alex Roberts

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It was a real Jekyll and Hyde performance from Chelsea in their 2-2 draw against Newcastle. The first half was abysmal, but a decent second half showing say them earn a draw. Still, it’s more dropped points from Enzo Maresca’s side in the race for a Champions League place.

Villa, on the other hand, at the Premier League’s in-form side at the moment. Seven consecutive league wins is a remarkable turn-around considering they didn’t even score a goal in the first month of the season.

Morgan Rogers is the man

Like his side, Rogers took a little while to get going this season, but now he looks unstoppable. Braces in two consecutive games, including a couple of absolute beauties in the win over Man United seemingly have him leading the race for England’s number ten shirt next summer.

It’s unlikely he’ll have as much joy against Chelsea’s defence as he did against United’s. Leny Yoro gave him the freedom of the pitch, refusing to close him down for the first goal in particular. Reece James, if he plays right-back, won’t be so forgiving.

Villa have a bona fide superstar on their hands with Rogers. Seven goals in his 17 Premier League games means he’s only one off his tally for the entirety of last season, they’ll just be hoping they can keep him beyond this one.

The most complete player in the league?

Enzo Maresca and Chelsea will be thanking Santa, Jesus, and whoever else they could possibly think of that James was there to save the day in the draw against Newcastle. It wasn’t the first time and it’s unlikely it’ll be the last too.

At one end of the pitch he was scoring a freekick, at the other he was making a last-ditch challenge to deny Harvey Barnes. It was a complete performance from a complete player. It’s genuinely hard to see any faults in his game at the moment.

Now we don’t know whether Maresca will have James at right-back or in central midfield for this one. It would probably make more sense to have him in his natural position to help nullify Rogers’ threat, but what do we know!

Team news

Chelsea have Liam Delap and Estêvão back and available for selection with the English striker coming back a lot sooner than many had initially expected. Now he just needs to start scoring some goals.

Levi Colwill (ACL), Roméo Lava (thigh), and Dário Essugo (thigh) are all still out, however, with little sign they’ll be returning at time soon.

Don’t expect to see much change from the side that beat Man United last time out for Villa. Harvey Elliott is out with an illness, while Ross Barkley (knee), Tyrone Mings (hamstring) and Pau Torres (calf) won’t feature at all.

Evann Guessand was called up by the Ivory Coast as a replacement for Sebastien Haller, so Villa will be without the forward for the next month.

Prediction

Maresca and Chelsea generally do pretty well in the bigger games, and this is certainly one of them, but everything that Villa touch right now is turning to gold, so we’re going with a 3-1 win for the visitors. 

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(Cover image from IMAGO)

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