Ahead of the 18th game of the Premier League season, the Blues are fourth with 29 points, 10 points behind leaders Arsenal and seven behind third-placed Villa.

Head-to-head

Last season, both teams won their home games against each other – 3-0 at Stamford Bridge in December and 2-1 at Villa Park in February.

Having won five consecutive home Premier League games against Aston Villa by an aggregate score of 17-2 between 2012 and 2019, the five games at Stamford Bridge since have been shared results-wise, with two wins each plus a draw.

Chelsea scored in 21 straight Premier League home games against Aston Villa (50 goals) from 1998 to 2021, but have not scored in two of the last three matches at Stamford Bridge.

Aston Villa have won three of their five Premier League games against Chelsea under Unai Emery (one draw, one defeat).

Head-to-Head (all competitions)

Played 167
Won 68
Drawn 38
Lost 61

Last five meetings at Stamford Bridge

22 September 2021 | League Cup | W 1-1 (4-3 pens) Werner
1 April 2023 | Premier League | L 2-0
24 September 2023 | Premier League | L 1-0
26 January 2024 | FA Cup | D 0-0
1 December 2024 | Premier League | W 3-0 Jackson, Fernandez, Palmer

Biggest win for each team:

Chelsea 8-0 Aston Villa | 2012/13 | Premier League
Aston Villa 7-1 Chelsea | 1951/52 | Division One
Villa's biggest win at Stamford Bridge is 6-3 in 1931/32 in Division One.

Chelsea stats

The Blues currently have the 11th-best home record in the Premier League this season with 14 points from eight games. Chelsea have scored first in seven of our eight home league games this season, second only to Manchester City (eight of nine).

Chelsea have won 12 home Premier League games in 2025, last beating that figure in a calendar year in 2017 (16).

Following our 2-0 win against Everton, we are looking to win back-to-back Premier League games at Stamford Bridge for the first time this season.

Chelsea are unbeaten in the three Premier League games we have played this season against teams starting the day above us in the table, beating Liverpool 2-1 (October), Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 and drawing against Arsenal (both in November).

Chelsea have only failed to score in two of our 25 matches this season in all competitions - Crystal Palace on the opening weekend and Bournemouth earlier this month.

Only Arsenal (10) and Man City (16) have conceded fewer Premier League goals than the Blues (17).

At Newcastle United last week, Chelsea avoided defeat in a Premier League away game despite trailing by two or more goals at half-time for only the fourth time, after August 1992 against Sheffield Wednesday (3-3), September 2020 against West Bromwich Albion (3-3) and April 2024 against Aston Villa (2-2).

Robert Sanchez’s assist for Joao Pedro at Newcastle was the fourth time a goalkeeper created a Premier League goal for Chelsea and the first since Petr Cech for Didier Drogba against Tottenham in December 2010.

Enzo Fernandez has created more chances from open play (24) and made more passes breaking the opponents’ defensive line (17) than any other Chelsea player in the Premier League this season.

Chelsea are playing at home on a Boxing Day or 27 December matchday for the 21st time in the Premier League era. The game versus Aston Villa is our 34th such match in total.

Chelsea's last 10 games on 26 or 27 December

2015 Watford (h) D 2-2
2016 Bournemouth (h) W 3-0
2017 Brighton & Hove Albion (h) W 2-0
2018 Watford (a) W 2-1
2019 Southampton (h) L 2-0
2020 Arsenal (a) L 3-1
2021 Aston Villa (a) W 3-1
2022 Bournemouth (h) W 2-0
2023 Crystal Palace (h) W 2-1
2024 Fulham (h) L 2-1

Premier League scorers
Joao Pedro 5, Neto 5, Fernandez 4 (1 pen), Caicedo 3, Chalobah 3, Gusto 2, James 2, Palmer 2, Acheampong 1, Estevao 1, Garnacho 1

Premier League assists
James 3, Joao Pedro 3, Neto 3, Cucurella 2, Garnacho 2, Gittens 2, Gusto 2, Caicedo 1, Estevao 1, Fernandez 1, Guiu 1, Sanchez 1

Milestones

Chelsea are two away from reaching 100 Premier League points since Enzo Maresca joined the club at the start of 2024/25, with our tally of 98 coming from 55 games. In that time, only Arsenal, Liverpool (both 113), Manchester City (108) and Aston Villa (102) have reached a century.

Aston Villa stats

Last season

Premier League: Sixth
FA Cup: Lost 3-0 to Crystal Palace at Wembley in the semi-finals
Carabao Cup: Lost 2-1 at home to Crystal Palace in the fourth round
Champions League: Lost 5-4 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals
Top scorer all competitions: Ollie Watkins 17

This season’s Premier League stats

Most minutes played: Rogers 1,518, Cash 1,505, Konsa 1,416
Most goals: Rogers 7, Buendia 4, Malen 4, Cash 3, Watkins 3
Most assists: Digne 3, Kamara 3, Rogers 3
Most duels won: Kamara 97, McGinn 71, Rogers 69
Clean sheets: Martinez 4, Bizot 1
Most fouls conceded: Cash 21, Rogers 21, McGinn 20
Most yellow cards: Cash 4, Kamara 4, McGinn 3
Red cards: Konsa 1

Aston Villa have the fifth-best away record this season with 14 points from eight games. They have beaten Tottenham and their last three on the road against Leeds United, Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United. They have drawn at Everton and Sunderland, and lost at Brentford and Liverpool.

After beating Manchester United last week, Aston Villa have won 11 of their last 12 Premier League games (one defeat at Liverpool), including each of the last seven, their longest-ever winning streak in the competition.

Aston Villa have won 10 consecutive matches as a top-flight team for the first time since March 1914 (a run of 11). Villa have won their last seven Premier League games, last having a longer run in the top flight between October and December 1910 (nine).

Aston Villa are the first team in any of the top-four divisions in the history of the Football League to win none of their first five league games of a season and then win as many as 11 of their next 12.

The Villans have won 15 points from losing positions this season.

Morgan Rogers has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than any other English player in the opening 17 matchdays this season (10 – seven goals, three assists).

Matty Cash, John McGinn and Rogers have started all 17 Premier League matches this term. Evann Guessand will be missing as he has been called up by the Ivory Coast for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Unai Emery's managerial record against Chelsea

Won: 4
Drawn: 4
Lost: 5

Unai Emery has won more Premier League games in charge of Aston Villa than any other manager in the club’s history (65), after moving ahead of John Gregory and Martin O’Neill (both 61) with a win against Brighton earlier this month.

The Villans have won 12 of their 21 Premier League away games against London sides under Unai Emery (four draws, five defeats), more than they had in their previous 59.

Last five results

Brighton & Hove Albion (a) W 4-3
Arsenal (h) W 2-1
Basel (Europa League, a) W 2-1
West Ham United (a) W 3-2
Manchester United (h) W 2-1

Last Premier League line-up

Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester United
Sunday 21 DecemberTeam (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen (Digne 75); Kamara (Bogarde 88), Onana (Buendia 84); McGinn (c) (Guessand 84), Tielemans, Rogers; Watkins (Malen 75)
Scorer: Rogers 45, 57
Booked: Bogarde 90+2

Discipline

Enzo Maresca is serving a one-game touchline ban after picking up his third yellow card of the season at Newcastle. There are no player suspensions.

In the Premier League, five yellow cards received before 19 league fixtures have been completed will result in a one-match suspension in the competition.

Chelsea Premier League yellow cards: Caicedo 3, Cucurella 3, Estevao 3, Sanchez 3, Santos 3, Badiashile 2, Chalobah 2, Fernandez 2, George 2, Hato 2, James 2, Joao Pedro 2, Neto 2, Fofana 1, Garnacho 1, Gusto 1, Tosin 1

Match officials

Referee: Stuart Attwell
Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis, Adam Nunn
Fourth official: Tim Robinson
VAR: Paul Howard
Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis

Stuart Attwell is officiating his second Chelsea match this season, having previously refereed our 2-2 draw at Brentford in September.