Emery anxious over fitness of influential midfielder who will be key to victory: Aston Villa predicted XI vs Chelsea | OneFootball

Aston Villa face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, looking for their first Premier League victory in six weeks.

Unai Emery’s side are on a seven-match winless run after losing four times in a row before the November international break following a draw against Bournemouth.

Villa stopped the rot with a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace last weekend before playing out a goalless draw with Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday.

However, Villa are only three points off third-placed Chelsea ahead of the game on Sunday.

The Villains have won their last two Premier League games at Stamford Bridge – as many as they managed in their previous 21 visits.

Chelsea are also surprisingly brittle at home, which should encourage Villa to go for the jugular.

After losing to Manchester City on the opening weekend of the campaign, Chelsea have drawn to Palace, Nottingham Forest and Arsenal at home. They beat Brighton & Hove Albion and Newcastle United.

They will be without captain Reece James, but Pedro Neto and Malo Gusto could return to the squad after missing the trip to Leicester City last time out.

Villa will assess Amadou Onana ahead of the game, but Jacob Ramsey remains sidelined.

Onana has missed the last two matches against Palace and Juventus, having sustained an injury while on international duty with Belgium. He now faces a late fitness test.

The influential Belgian midfielder will be a massive miss if he is not fit to play.

Villa will need him to curtail the dangerous Cole Palmer and compete with Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez in the midfield battle.

Fit-again Boubacar Kamara returned to the starting XI for the Champions League clash, while Ezri Konsa was also named in the matchday squad.

Aston Villa Predicted XI vs Chelsea

(4-2-3-1): Emiliano Martinez; Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne; Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans; Leon Bailey, John McGinn, Morgan Rogers; Ollie Watkins.