It ’ mho time for that most Premier League of traditions, the Boxing Day fixtures. Three may have been postponed due to the latest COVID outbreak, but Chelsea ’ s visit to Aston Villa is set to go ahead equally scheduled .
And it ’ s so far another must-win for the Blues if we are to stay in affect with leaders Manchester City, who are nigh-unstoppable at the consequence with eight wins in a row in the league. They ’ ve opened a three-point lead over Liverpool and a six-point lead on us. That already seems an insurmountable lead, and would only become bigger with far points dropped .
Chelsea spent last Boxing Day unbox and staring down a 3-1 kill at the Emirates to Arsenal. Let ’ s hope our present is a act dainty this year .
Date / Time: Sunday, December 26, 2021, 17.30 GMT ; 12:30pm ; 11pm IST
Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham, England
Referee: Martin Atkinson ( on slope ) ; Stuart Attwell ( VAR )
Forecast: Rainy and cool

On TV: Sky Sports Main Event ( UK ) ; NBC, Telemundo ( USA ) ; Star Sports Select HD1 ( India ) ; SuperSport MaXimo 1, Canal+ Sport 3 ( NGA ) ; elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go ( UK ) ; NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo ( USA ) ; Hotstar ( India ) ; DStv immediately ( NGA )

Aston Villa Training and Press Conference

Aston Villa team news: Villa survive played two weeks ago before a COVID outbreak caused the postponement of final weekend ’ randomness match against Burnley. The site remains fluent and uncertain, but new head coach Steven Gerrard is hopeful that the plot will go ahead. Gerrard took over from Dean Smith a little over a month ago, and Villa have won four of his six games in charge, losing merely to Manchester City and Liverpool .
In summation to the diverse COVID concerns, Villa have a few key injuries to deal with vitamin a well, including Leon Bailey, Bertrand Traoré, and Marvelous Nakamba. Emiliano Buendía should be back however after the knock he suffered two weeks ago. Gerrard has been setting up in a 4-3-3, with Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings marshaling the defense, John McGinn running the midfield, and Ollie Watkins leading the line and leading their goalscoring charts. They may not be the most spectacular team, but they ’ re every spot adequate to of beating any team.

update : Gerrard himself will however miss out after testing positive .
View from the enemy: 7500 to Holte

Chelsea Training Session

Chelsea team news: Undermanned and cobbled-together Chelsea — featuring three ( 3 ! ) teenagers making their elder debuts, even — advanced to the League Cup semifinals with an excellent 2-0 succeed over Brentford on Wednesday, and hopefully that winnings will have besides lifted the mood a piece after equitable one win in five in all competitions and nine points dropped in recent weeks in the league. Of naturally, the key will be to actually follow that up with a succeed.

Chelsea ’ s COVID tilt has shrunk a piece in holocene days, with Romelu Lukaku and Callum Hudson-Odoi both testing out and returning to train. ( Timo Werner and Kai Havertz had not. ) Andreas Christensen is besides back from his injury. They may not be completely catch paroxysm so far however — with Mateo Kovačić, N ’ Golo Kanté probably inactive in a similar boat. interim, Jorginho has been dealing with back pain, and both Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Hakim Ziyech have missed time with versatile knocks. While can ’ thymine expect a fully healthy police squad in the center of a arduous season, it sure seems like we ’ ve had to deal with a constant ( if not inevitably alone to just this team ) barrage of such issues all temper .
Previously: We played Villa twice already this season, winning 3-0 in the league back in September ( Lukaku brace plus a Kovačić goal ), and prevailing on penalties in the League Cup third circle after a 1-1 pull back in rule ( Werner scoring ). But, the final time we were at Villa Park, at the end of last season, we lost 2-1 .