Aston Villa face Chelsea in a crunch Premier League meeting on Wednesday night, and Unai Emery has named his starting line-up for the encounter.
This could prove to be a critical showdown come the end of the season in the race for Champions League qualification, with Villa starting the day six points clear of our rivals.
A win would massively strengthen our place in the top five by stretching our advantage over both Chelsea and Liverpool, but Emery will know how difficult this game will be, not only due to the quality of the opposition but also taking into account our recent struggles.
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Our defeat to Wolves last time out was a new low point in the campaign, but what followed was an opportunity to hit the reset button, attack our final 10 league games of the season and push to achieve our ultimate objective this year in the Premier League.
Injuries were set to limit Emery’s ability to make changes given Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans and John McGinn remain sidelined, but tweaks were expected after the disappointing nature of our performance last Friday, and as per the club’s post below, Villa make three changes with Tyrone Mings, Ian Maatsen and Leon Bailey coming in to replace Pau Torres, Lucas Digne and Jadon Sancho.
What will be intriguing to see in the early stages is whether or not our approach changes, as many supporters have been critical of the passive and slow-paced style we’ve been playing in recent weeks.
It’s hoped that we see more intensity, urgency and tempo to take the game to Chelsea, as this is a fundamental moment in our campaign and it would be bitterly disappointing to see us continue with the same approach and risk letting the opportunity to cement our position in the standings slip.
Tonight’s team news for #AVLCHE ✊ pic.twitter.com/NBHz3HhCKn
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) March 4, 2026
