Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is hoping that his strong record against Villa will continue when they take on Unai Emery’s side later this afternoon. The Blues boss has made only one change to the team that drew against Bournemouth.
The Blues have had a rough start to the season but were the better side for large parts of the game against Bournemouth last weekend.
Their only win so far this campaign has come at home against newly promoted Luton Town so it will be interesting to see how they perform against an Aston Villa side who are yet to lose a game in London under Unai Emery.
The Chelsea boss confirmed he had a good relationship with the Aston Villa manager and was looking forward to seeing him ahead of the game.
Pochettino told the press ahead of the game: “We have a good relationship. He started to coach earlier than me when I was in Spain with different clubs. He is a great coach, and I have a good relationship with the staff of Aston Villa. It will be good to see him.”
The one positive for the game against Bournemouth was that new goalkeeper Robert Sanchez looked really great and looked like he’d finally settled in at the club after moving from Brighton to West London.
In a week where Chelsea have been linked to Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale, he will do well to continue improving as the club will need him if they are to go on and improve their results.
Villa played on Europe on Thursday while Chelsea had a week to prepare for this, so with all that in mind, here is how Pochettino lined up.
5. Lesley Ugochukwu- 6
Strong start and looked to move the ball forward. There is a player. | Getty Images
6. Ben Chilwell-6
Captain Chilwell returned to the starting team. Defended well and attacked when he had to. Decent game. | Getty Images
7. Ian Maatsen -6
First full start and fair to say he did not let himself down. Good balance of attacking and defending. Should be proud of his performance. | AFP via Getty Images
8. Levi Colwill -6
Started at the left centre-half where he impressed so much for Brighton last season. Impressed over-all today. | Getty Images