Chelsea vs Aston Villa

In a Premier League match scheduled on Sunday afternoon, at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea and Aston Villa are set to face each other having played in Europe in midweek matches.

After the loss of 2-0 in the fourth round of the EFL Cup to Newcastle United on October 30, Chelsea had no defeats in November, an efficient month that ended with the win by two goals against the Conference League of the German Heidenheim on Thursday night.

It means that the West Londoners will advance to February’s playoff round at the very least, though they had to rely on goals from Christopher Nkunku and Mykhaylo Mudryk in a goalless first half in the League Phase of UEFA’s third-tier club competition.

Turning the last matchday into Premier League affairs, the Blues will expect to make it two successive victories in the English top tier when coming off the last break of the year in internationals, with Enzo Maresca scoring against former employers Leicester City last weekend in the King Power Stadium.

Having landed the net with a composed finish against the Foxes, the Nigerian striker shares top of the Blues’ Premier League goalscoring list with academy star Cole Palmer who has staked his claim to an England call-up with nine goals this term, with Noni Madueke (4) the only other Chelsea player to have found the back of the net more than once this season in top flight.

Picking up only nine of their 22 Premier League points at Stamford Bridge this season, no team in the division has accrued less of a share of their points at their home ground to this point, making this a clear and obvious area for development for Maresca’s men if they are to close the nine-point gap to Liverpool.

Maresca's team has a clear area for improvement if they want to close the nine-point gap to league leaders Liverpool, as they have only collected nine of their 22 Premier League points at Stamford Bridge this season. No team in the division has earned a smaller ratio of their points at their respective home bases to date.

After defeating tournament newcomers Bologna 2-0 in the Champions League on October 22, Aston Villa had lost seven straight games in all competitions, therefore it was not surprising that jeers could be heard in the Second City following Tuesday night's match against Juventus.
The decision to disallow Morgan Rogers's goal in the closing seconds of the game due to a foul in the build-up was the main source of annoyance for the Villa supporters, which means that Unai Emery's team is currently outside the top eight slots on the continent.

Villa only managed one point from three Premier League games in November, losing to Liverpool and taking a beating at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur before having to settle for the top tier points against a resolute Crystal Palace team on Saturday.

Midfielder Romeo Lavia and talisman Palmer, who are not in Chelsea's Conference League roster, will rejoin the hosts' matchday celebration on Sunday.

Ismaila Sarr and academy graduate Justin Devenny's efforts for the visitors were negated by goals from Ollie Watkins and Ross Barkley, so the Villans had to demonstrate their remarkable ability to bounce back in order to clinch a victory over the relegation-threatened Eagles.

Villa will be confident going into Sunday afternoon's meeting at Stamford Bridge, where Emery's team has won two and drawn one of their past three competitive games. Villa is looking to end a four-game losing streak in the Premier League.

Ezri Konsa, who was benched for Tuesday's match against Juventus, is anticipated to rejoin Pau Torres in the Aston Villa starting lineup.