Chelsea vs Aston Villa LIVE: Premier League latest score and goal updates | Football

It’s been an energetic start to the game but it’s Chelsea who have been more in control.

That’s until Villa try to launch a counter and Caicedo slides in and takes out Kamara. Free-kick and no yellow. Correct decision.

First chance goes to Chelsea!

Palmer does well to control the ball on the edge of the box and takes a quick shot with his wonder of a left leg but it twists wide.

An early warning shot for Villa

And away we go!

The referee for this one is Stuart Attwell with Paul Howard on VAR duty.

Players are out of the tunnel and ready to go at a raucous Stamford Bridge.

It’s third vs fifth in the table, whatever happens today could have a huge impact on the title race and the race for Champions League qualification.

Just a few minutes from kick-off now.

A reminder, Enzo Maresca will NOT be on the touchline today as he is serving a suspension after receiving his third yellow card of the season during the Newcastle draw.

‘Very difficult because I would like to be there,’ the Chelsea boss has told Sky Sports.

‘In any case, Will [Cabellero] is there, Dan [Walker] is there, the coaching staff is there. I am in contact with them, so no problem.’

There are rumours that Chelsea could recall one of their most promising talents from his loan spell.

The teenager is not developing as hoped and there has been suggestion he may not see the season out at his loan club.

A similar situation is developing at Villa Park where Liverpool loanee Harvey Elliott has barely kicked a ball.

In light of recent injuries, Jamie Carragher believes Arne Slot should recall the young English talent in January. Elliott has yet again been left out of the squad.

It’s just a few more sleeps till 2026 and you know what that means: the transfer window is about to reopen!

Chelsea aren’t expected to do much business next month after spending over £250million but according to reports they are ‘monitoring’ a very promising young defender.

The £35m-rated star has also been linked with Arsenal. Read the full story here.

The 3pm games have just finished and most notably, Arsenal have held on to beat Brighton 2-1 and remain two points clear at the top.

Liverpool have defeated Wolves by the same scoreline to overtake Chelsea in the table, for now…

Here are the rest of today’s results:

Brentford 4-1 Bournemouth

Burnley 0-0 Everton

Nottingham Forest 1-2 Man City

West Ham 0-1 Fulham

Chelsea have won just one of their last five league games but will climb back into the top four with a win.

Following a poor start to the season, Villa have now won 16 of their last 18 games across all competitions. At the start of the day, they were just three points behind leaders Arsenal and seven in front of Chelsea.

Here are the latest match odds courtesy of Betfair:

Chelsea win – 3/4

Draw – 29/10

Aston Villa win – 7/2

Aston Villa need a win today to keep pace with title rivals Arsenal and Man City but defeat for Chelsea would surely end their dreams of lifting the trophy.

Premier League legend and Betfair ambassador Alan Shearer has delivered his prediction for the big match:

‘Chelsea were brilliant in the second half against Newcastle. First half, they couldn’t string a pass together because Newcastle’s pressing was great. This is a tough one to predict because Villa are flying, beating whoever is in front of them, full of confidence.

‘I wasn’t that impressed with Chelsea defensively at the weekend. I’m going to go for an away win for Villa just because of the form they’re in.’

Enzo Maresca makes two changes from the Chelsea team that drew 2-2 with Newcastle last time out, as Wesley Fofana and Malo Gusto drop out.

Enzo Fernandez returns, while Benoit Badiashile – somewhat surprisingly – comes into the defence.

Two changes for Aston Villa as well: Donyell Malen and Emi Buendia replace Ollie Watkins and Amadou Onana.

Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Buendia, Rogers, Malen

Subs: Bizot, Digne, Garcia, Bogarde, Hemmings, Onana, Sancho, Watkins, Jimoh-Aloba

Chelsea XI: Sanchez, James, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Neto, Palmer, Garnacho, Pedro

Subs: Jorgensen, Gusto, Acheampong, Tosin, Fofana, Santos, Estevao, Gittens, Delap

You can watch Chelsea vs Aston Villa live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event with streaming also available through the Sky Go app and NOW TV for subscribers.

But why do that when you can follow all the action right here on our dedicated LIVE blog!

Today’s match at Stamford Bridge will kick-off at 5.30pm UK time.

It is the final of seven Premier League games on Saturday, with Manchester City beating Nottingham Forest 2-1 in the early kick-off.

The five 3pm games are at half-time, with league leaders Arsenal currently leading Brighton 1-0.

Good afternoon and welcome to the Metro’s LIVE coverage of the Premier League clash between Chelsea and Aston Villa.

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas and are ready for some festive footie fun.

The all-important team news is on the way…