Aston Villa vs Chelsea: Predicted XIs for the Premier League clash
Aston Villa host Chelsea in one of the first Boxing Day fixtures in the Premier League. The home side are on a good run under Steven Gerrard, who will not be pitchside this evening after testing positive for COVID-19.
Thomas Tuchel will certainly be on the touchline, but he has to wait for approval regarding his players who had tested positive.
Romelu Lukaku, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner missed the last game due to COVID but are back in training.
"If I understood it correctly, we need a negative test and we have negative tests for Romelu, Callum and Ben Chilwell. Ben Chilwell will not be involved against Aston Villa. The other two will be on the pitch tomorrow if they are again negative tomorrow. Then, we need to see, they have been ill and have symptoms but we will see," Tuchel said.
Aston Villa have injury concerns, with former Chelsea academy star Bertrand Traoré missing the game along with Leon Bailey and Marvelous Nakamba.
Chelsea do not have a clean slate yet with Ben Chilwell still out of action, while Tuchel has cast doubt over the involvement of Andreas Christensen and Hakim Ziyech.
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Here are the predicted XI for the two sides today:
Aston Villa: Emiliano Martínez, Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Matt Targett, John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey, Emiliano Buendía, Danny Ings, Ollie Watkins
Chelsea: Edouard Mendy, Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rüdiger, Reece James, N'Golo Kanté, Jorginho, Marcos Alonso, Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Christian Pulišić
Steven Gerrard ahead of Chelsea's visit to Aston Villa
Steven Gerrard might not be on the touchline today, but he did hold a press conference ahead of the game.
Aston Villa can confirm Head Coach Steven Gerrard will be unable to attend our next two Premier League matches with Chelsea and Leeds United as he will be isolating after testing positive for COVID-19.
He claimed they always have to prepare for the best Chelsea side despite the unpredictable situation right now.
"You always prepare for the best Chelsea team. They've got a fixture tonight and I'm sure that team will look a lot different to the weekend because I've listened to Thomas' (Tuchel) last few interviews and I think he's going to protect and rest a few, which is understandable.
"We will always prepare for the best team, in terms of the opponent. If for any reason it's not a strong Chelsea team, we'll deal with that."
Aston Villa defeated Chelsea when the two sides met at Villa Park back in May.