After their disappointing campaign last time around, in which they finished 12th in the Premier League with just 44 points, their lowest haul of the Premier League era, Chelsea opted to hire Mauricio Pochettino with the new season in mind and set out for quick improvement this term, but the Blues have again had to endure a slow start.
They would earn a creditable point in their curtain-raiser at home to Liverpool, coming away with a 1-1 draw thanks to Axel Disasi’s leveller, only to lose 3-1 away at London rivals West Ham United in the following outing, as Michail Antonio restored their hosts’ lead after Carney Chukwuemeka’s first half equaliser and Lucas Paqueta wrapped up the home victory from the penalty spot in injury time.
The Blues did then score a first competitive victory under their new boss, beating newly-promoted Luton Town 3-0 at Stamford Bridge thanks to Raheem Sterling’s brace and a Nicolas Jackson goal, before they headed into the international break on the back of another setback.
The first half of their meeting at home to Nottingham Forest ended goalless, but after Anthony Elanga quickly opened the scoring early in the second period, Chelsea were unable to find a leveller and came away empty-handed as a result, before returning to action away at Bournemouth last Sunday and coming away with another disappointing result as the spoils were shared in a goalless stalemate.
In the midst of their first season without continental football since the 2016-17 term, Chelsea do now head into the weekend well rested, although with just five points on the board from five outings under Pochettino, the London outfit will know they must quickly turn their form around starting at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, to avoid falling even further behind the leading pack at this stage.
In their way stand an Aston Villa side who will look to build on a much more positive start to their first full season under Unai Emery, having picked up nine points thus far, despite the campaign beginning in dismal fashion as they suffered a 5-1 thrashing away at Newcastle on the opening day, despite Moussa Diaby drawing them level at a goal apiece early on.
Things would quickly improve for the Villans, as they put their first league wins on the board with 4-0 and 3-1 victories over Everton and Burnley respectively, with John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Leon Bailey and Jhon Duran scoring in the former and Matty Cash netting a brace alongside a Diaby goal in the latter, while also cruising past Hibernian in the Europa Conference League playoff round, eventually dishing out an 8-0 beating over two legs to advance to the group stage.
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On the back of consecutive league wins, Emery’s side headed into the international break on the back of a tough trip to Liverpool, which ended in a 3-0 defeat as Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah got on the scoresheet alongside a Cash own goal, but
they bounced back on their return last weekend, coming from behind to eventually see off Crystal Palace at Villa Park, as Duran only tied the game level at 1-1 in the 87th minute before Luiz and Bailey scored deep into injury time to seal the three points.
Now on the back of their Europa Conference League group curtain-raiser away at Legia Warsaw, having suffered a 3-2 defeat despite twice drawing level through Duran and Lucas Digne, the Villans will turn their focus back to the Premier League and seek to make it back-to-back three-point hauls and four from their opening six outings on their trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with the aim of improving on their current standing in seventh spot
