The EFL Cup third round takes up this midweek set of fixtures, tomorrow Aston Villa will travel to Chelsea hoping to exact revenge
The match will kick off at 19:45 on Wednesday 22nd September in Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea could not be in better form, having scored seven goals in three wins on the bounce. After beating Spurs 3-0 at the weekend, the Blues are now 11 matches unbeaten.
This will be the club’s first EFL Cup game of the season due to their success last year but they have had plenty of match experience in recent weeks.
Aston Villa has had a decent time coping with the loss of their talisman Jack Grealish to Man City. They have picked up two wins and a draw in their opening five league matches including an impressive 3-0 drubbing of Everton where newcomer Leon Bailey wowed the fans.
Villa polished off League Two side Barrow 6-0 to reach this stage of the competition with Cameron Archer as the star of the show.
It has not been long since the last time these two clubs faced each other, less than two weeks ago Chelsea managed to beat Villa 3-0 playing poorly, with Lukaku netting a brace. The Clarets do not like this fixture, having only won three of their last 18 meetings.
19 – Aged 19 years and 258 days old, Cameron Archer became the youngest player to score a hat-trick for Aston Villa since Gary Shaw (18y 342d) vs Bristol City in 1979. Opportunity. pic.twitter.com/2cuSktZdBJ
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 25, 2021
Predicted Starting Teams
Chelsea
Formation
3-4-2-1
Starting 11
Arrizabalaga (GK), Chalobah, Christensen, Sarr, Hudson-Odoi, Saul, Kanté, Chilwell, Havertz, Mount, Werner
Injuries / Suspensions
Pulisic (Ankle), Mendy (Ankle)
Aston Villa
Formation
5-3-2
Starting 11
Steer (GK), Targett, Mings, Tuanzebe, Hause, Young, Ramsey, Hourihane, Nakamba, Watkins, Archer
Injuries / Suspensions
Chukwuemeka (Knock), Philogene-Bidace (Knock), McGinn (Head), Davis (Knee), Bailey (Thigh), Trezeguet (Knee), Cash (Knock)
So satisfying… 🤤@DiegoCosta adding the finishing touch to one of our three goals against Aston Villa #onthisday in 2014! pic.twitter.com/iPcFAFiofX
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 27, 2020
Betting
Chelsea 2/5
Draw 7/2
Aston Villa 13/2
Score Prediction
Tuchel seems to be on fire with his selection choices and with the squad depth he has it is hard for him to go wrong. Villa’s injury concerns will have a major impact on the result of this tie as their rotation players struggle to contain Champions League stars.
Expect this game to end 3-0 (again) to Chelsea.
Thomas Tuchel said this when he joined Chelsea in January.
Fair to say he's done it already 👏 pic.twitter.com/XPgbNA9ieR
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 20, 2021
