At A Glance
Aston Villa are looking to end 2020 on a high when they travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in the Premier League.
The Villans are unbeaten in December so far, winning three and drawing one of their four games during the month, pushing the club into the top half of the table.
Despite playing the second half with ten men, goals from Bertrand Traore, Anwar El Ghazi and Kortney Hause secured a 3-0 win on Boxing Day.
Opponents Chelsea have endured mixed results during December, winning two and losing three of their five league fixtures.
Frank Lampard’s side were defeated 3-1 by Arsenal on Boxing Day, leaving them level on points with Villa having played two games more.
While the Blues have struggled on the road, their home form is the second best in the top-flight, with four wins, two draws and a defeat from seven games.
The Last Meeting
Chelsea overturned a first half deficit to take a narrow 2-1 victory at Villa Park back in June.
Kortney Hause bundled in the opener to give Aston Villa the lead just before half-time.
Substitute Christian Pulisic fired Chelsea level on the hour mark before Olivier Giroud scored the decisive goal two minutes later.
Team News
Tyrone Mings will miss the game after he was sent-off in the win against Crystal Palace last time out.
Ross Barkley is edging closer to a return after injury but is ineligible to face his parent club, while Trezeguet has missed the last four games through injury.
Chelsea have only one injury concern, with Hakim Ziyech having missed the last five games with a thigh injury.
The Boss
“Chelsea have got a very good team and they made some very good acquisitions in the summer. We’ll need to be at our best because we know we’re coming up against a top four team in the Premier League. We’ve got to be ready to compete.”
Dean Smith
