Premier League: Villa and Chelsea in the Euro Scramble

Aston Villa vs Chelsea

Ninth hosts sixth at Villa Park on Saturday in a blockbuster clash, as Unai Emery’s Villans host the Blues of Chelsea with boss Enzo Maresca hoping for a fast finish in his first campaign in the English top-flight. 

The Premier League contest between Aston Villa and Chelsea is a fascinating tussle between two ambitious clubs at different stages of their evolutions, though both teams started the season as top five hopefuls. But the competition is fierce, with the usual suspects joined by surprise package Nottingham Forest, currently in third.   

Villa hosted Liverpool on Wednesday and held the league leaders to a 2-2 draw, a result which has given Arsenal hope, as the Gunners can now close the gap at the top to five points if they win their game in hand. Meanwhile, the Blues had over a week to prepare for this clash after suffering a chastening 3-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton.

The Premier League 2025 betting odds say we’re in for an exciting ride with this game, so let’s look at the two camps and make our pick.

 

Talking Points

This is some week for Villa

After a run of inconsistent results and a busy January window, Aston Villa have a chance to take stock of where they are. A draw against Ipswich Town last weekend was not a great start to a huge week in the Villans’ campaign, which includes two matches against “Big Six” teams and a Champions League draw in Europe.

Liverpool have led the title race from the off, but they have been showing signs of fallibility, knocked out of the FA Cup by Plymouth, struggling to a win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and then drawing with Everton. And on Wednesday, Emery’s team came very close to inflicting a league defeat on Arne Slot’s Reds.

Loan signing Marcus Rashford impressed, winning the free-kick for Youri Tielemans’ equaliser after Mohamed Salah had given the Reds an early lead. Ollie Watkins made it 12 goals for the campaign when he headed Villa in front and, even after Trent Alexander-Arnold had levelled for the visitors, Donyell Malen came close to winning all three points, but his shot flew inches wide.          

Emery’s men have done well in the Champions League, finishing the league stage in the automatic places for the Round of 16, and they’ll be looking forward to the draw on Friday. And then it’s on to Maresca’s Blues.

 

Jackson out and Palmer needs a lift

After an impressive start to his first season in the Premier League, Maresca has faced more challenges since the turn of the year, also crashing out of the FA Cup to Brighton before the Seagulls inflicted that damaging 3-0 defeat on the Blues.

Chelsea’s success has relied heavily on the prowess of Cole Palmer and the ever-improving goal return of Nicolas Jackson. But, after he picked up an injury during the cup loss to Brighton, the Senegalese striker has been sidelined for a month at a crucial time in the campaign. And Jackson’s injury has coincided with a dry run for Palmer.

The England man has been prolific in terms of goals and assists for a season and a half, and he has scored 14 and assisted six already this term. But Palmer has now gone five games without making a goal contribution in all competitions, as opposition defences have finally found ways to nullify his threat or at least reduce it.

The attention on Palmer leaves space for others to shine and, in Pedro Neto and Christopher Nkunku, Chelsea have creative players with undoubted talent, while Jackson’s absence gives the exciting Noni Madueke his chance.         

 

History

Chelsea have won 34 of these 65 encounters in the Premier League era with Villa winning 16 and there have been 15 draws. In December, the Blues won the return match 3-0 as Palmer dominated, scoring the third and assisting the second for Enzo Fernandez after Jackson had opened the scoring. 

While the head-to-heads favour the Blues, Villa have lost just once at home this season, with six wins and seven draws, and the hosts come into the game in slightly better shape with one win, two draws, and one defeat from the last four games. Meanwhile, Chelsea have suffered three defeats in four games.

 

Betting Tip

The Blues are at SBOTOP odds of 2.40 to win with Villa at 2.50, and you can make a good case for either outcome. Emery’s men will be high in confidence after holding Liverpool to a draw, and they have strengthened in January.

While Chelsea are four points ahead at the moment and have had more time to prepare, Maresca’s men are depleted, particularly up front.

So, I’m going for a draw and an entertaining one at that (filled with Premier League 2025 highlights), though it wouldn’t be a particularly good result for either team. 

   

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