Chelsea travel to Villa Park to face Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth-round replay on Wednesday evening.
The Blues drew 0-0 with Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge to take the game to the Midlands for a replay. Since then, they have suffered back-to-back humiliating defeats to Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League, shipping four goals each to slip into the bottom half of the table. Matheus Cunha’s hat-trick helped Wolves beat Chelsea 4-2, heaping more pressure on manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Now, the Pensioners shift their focus to the FA Cup, and Pochettino will expect a stirring response from his boys against Villa, who smashed Sheffield United 5-0 at Bramall Lane in the Premier League on Saturday evening.
Chelsea Team News
Marc Cucurella, Trevoh Chalobah, Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia, Reece James, Robert Sanchez, Lesley Ugochukwu and Levi Colwill remain out for Chelsea, so Mauricio Pochettino will have more or less the same squad at his disposal that faced Wolves on Sunday.
Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Aston Villa (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper
Chelsea have been defensively all over the place in the last two games, with goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic conceding eight goals combined. Confidence is very low in the Chelsea camp at the moment and Petrovic will need to put in a strong performance in goal to lift spirits at Villa Park in midweek.
Defence
Despite being run ragged by Wolves on Sunday, Pochettino could stick to the same back four—Malo Gusto, Axel Disasi, Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell in the Chelsea lineup. Gusto and Chilwell will hope to put in better performances from the full-back positions after struggling against the pacey Wolves attackers.
Likewise, Disasi and Silva endured a torrid time at the weekend and must do a lot better if they are to keep an in-form Villa side quiet.
Midfield
Up ahead in midfield, Pochettino is unlikely to make alterations despite the pairing of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez struggling to impose themselves against Wolves. The South American duo must be raring to do well, especially Caicedo, who was at fault for the visitors’ equaliser on Sunday.
Conor Gallagher is also expected to retain his place in the No.10 role, hoping to bring his energy, creativity and ball-crying skills to the floor against Unai Emery’s side.
Attack
Cole Palmer has been Chelsea’s standout player this season. He is a nailed-on starter on the right flank, with Raheem Sterling likely to get the nod ahead of Mykhaylo Mudryk on the opposite wing.
Having started against Wolves, Christopher Nkunku looked a little off the pace for much of the game. Understandably, he is not 100 per cent fit yet, so Pochettino could decide to hand Nicolas Jackson a start up top against Villa.
Nkunku, Mudryk, Chukwuemeka and Madueke could be involved at some point in the second half.