By now, we all know the Premier League is back, and it is certainly back with a vengeance for Aston Villa, who four days after welcoming Sheffield United to Villa Park, will play hosts again to Chelsea on Sunday, for a 16:15 kick-off.
The two sides met in December at Stamford Bridge for the reverse fixture, which resulted in Chelsea taking all three points with a 2-1 victory over the Premier League new boys.
Tammy Abraham gave Chelsea the lead, before Trézéguet equalised against the run of play just before half time, however three minutes into the second half Mason Mount made sure the West London side got the three points they deserved.
Villa will be hoping the same won’t be repeated this time out, as a win could lift them out of the relegation zone, but their statistics for playing Chelsea at Villa Park don’t look promising, with Chelsea taking the three points home in their previous two visits.
There is one glimpse of hope for league strugglers Villa, and that is the return of their midfielder John McGinn, who has been out since December when he fractured his ankle.
The midfielder made his return against Sheffield United on Wednesday, in a monotonous 0-0 draw, however, McGinn showed encouraging signs of excellence as he forced Dean Henderson to make a save in the 16th minute.
One player who will have to wait even longer for his first game back is Chelsea’s Jorginho, who will miss out on the clash with Villa due to serving his second game ban for receiving his 10th booking of the Premier League campaign against Bournemouth in February.
Yes, you read that right, Jorginho has waited since February for his second game ban to occur – that is how long we have lived without Premier League football.
The break came at a good time for other blues players, including Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic, who have used the time to recover from their injuries, before featuring in some behind closed doors friendlies.
Upon his return Loftus-Cheek played his part in Chelsea’s 7-1 ‘friendly’ win over QPR, scoring two goals and leaving Frank Lampard optimistic for the clubs return to Premier League life.
With Villa not winning in five league games, and Chelsea’s injury list being considerably reduced during the pause, to me a Chelsea win is inevitable.
Match Preview written by Sophie Reynolds.