Third-place Aston Villa will see their lengthy winning streak put to its stiffest test on Saturday when they visit a fourth-place Chelsea side that is getting closer to full strength.
Unai Emery’s Villa (11-3-3, 36 points) have won 10 straight in all competitions, including seven in a row in the Premier League, to climb up into their current position three points adrift of Arsenal and one behind Manchester City.
The last eight of those wins have come by a single goal, including home triumphs over Arsenal early this month and Manchester United last Sunday.
A breakout campaign from 23-year-old England international Morgan Rogers has been a key ingredient, with the attacker registering braces in consecutive matches, including Sunday’s 2-1 triumph, to reach seven goals for the season.
But Emery is aware that even those opponents at home may not present the same challenge as a visit to the young squad of Chelsea in this particular moment.
“They beat Liverpool at home, they competed fantastically against Arsenal, drawing, and they beat Barcelona as well in the Champions League and the last match at home against Everton,” Emery said. “They are feeling strong at home. How we are feeling now is very important with our momentum. (Saturday) is a very huge test for us. It’s a huge test at Chelsea, a huge test away, a huge test of how we are going to respond away against a team like Chelsea.”
Chelsea (8-4-5, 29 points) are unbeaten in their last three, most recently earning a 2-2 draw at Newcastle last Saturday. Blues manager Enzo Maresca expects striker Liam Delap and attacking midfielder Estevao Willian both to be available after they both missed the Tyneside clash, with Delap in consideration for the first time since he departed a 0-0 draw with Bournemouth early on Dec. 6.
Maybe more importantly, dual-threat Cole Palmer may be ready for his first 90-minute performance after Maresca has gradually increased his minutes in the five matches since his return from an extended layoff.
Palmer only has two goals this year, but he was easily Chelsea’s most important attacker over the last two seasons, registering 56 total goal involvements in that span.
“He played for an hour against Everton, then he did more than 70 minutes against Newcastle,” Maresca said. “So I think the progression is there, he’s feeling good and I think he could play for 90 minutes now.”
With Delap also looking for his first league goal since his summer move to Chelsea, the Blues have been buoyed by five goals and three assists each from Joao Paulo and Pedro Neto.
