Chelsea take on Aston Villa this evening in a Premier League clash in which a win could give Graham Potter’s men a major confidence boost heading into the final few weeks of the season.
The Stamford Bridge outfit enjoyed a solid March, winning three matches and drawing only once with the highlight being a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Despite Reece James and Kai Havertz returning from international duty with illness, they are both expected to feature and N’Golo Kante could be in the matchday squad as he looks to make his first appearance since August due to injury.
With another crucial match against Liverpool taking place just over 72 hours after the Villa tie, Potter will likely be looking at rotating a few players.
We at Football FanCast have predicted the Chelsea starting XI that will take to the Stamford Bridge pitch this evening.
How could Chelsea line up against Aston Villa?
3-4-3 – Kepa Arrizabalaga (GK); Wesley Fofana (CB), Kalidou Koulibaly (CB), Benoit Badiashile (CB); Reece James (RWB), Enzo Fernandez (CM), Conor Gallagher (CM), Ben Chilwell (LWB); Kai Havertz (RW), Mykhailo Mudryk (LW), Joao Felix (ST)
Kepa will start in goal despite having a poor performance against Scotland in midweek, after conceding two goals in that defeat, and he will be hoping for his first clean sheet for Chelsea since the clash against Dortmund.
Koulibaly, Badiashile and Fofana will make up the back three. Fofana is carrying a knock however he should be fit enough to start the match, and they will be hoping to counteract the threat of Villa striker Ollie Watkins, who has scored six league goals in his previous eight matches.
James and Chilwell will operate as wing-backs on the right and left-hand side, respectively, and the English duo will be aiming to attack as much as possible, providing plenty of support to the central midfielders.
Enzo Fernandez will keep his place and he even scored for Argentina in midweek in their 7-0 drubbing of Curacao, while he could have Conor Gallagher alongside him.
Christian Pulisic will drop to the bench, with the “disappointing” American – as so dubbed by talkSPORT pundit Jason Cundy – having a poor season where he has netted just once. Mudryk, the 5 foot 8 machine, will come in to replace him on the left wing and with writer Sacha Pisani describing him as a “baller” the Ukrainian winger will be hoping for some joy against the Villa backline.
Havertz will be available for Chelsea despite returning from Germany duty having suffered an illness and he will take a spot on the right-hand side of a three-pronged attack.
Felix will be deployed as the central striker by Potter and with two Premier League goals so far, he will be hoping to get a few more chances to add to this tally tonight.
