Aston Villa vs Chelsea 21/06/20

21 June 2020

Aston Villa will face a daunting prospect of finding a way out of a severe crisis as they take on a Chelsea side they’ve lost to in each of their last five Premier League (PL) H2Hs.

The hosts were suffering a five-game winless league run (D1, L4) before the coronavirus pandemic brought their misery to a halt, as they enter this round trailing 17th-placed Watford by a single point. Furthermore, the Villans have picked up only one win from their last four PL matches held at Villa Park (D1, L2), with each of those three results (win/loss) seeing the winner on the day concede at least one goal. Another high-scoring contest is on the cards here, given that four of Aston Villa’s last five top-flight home clashes against Chelsea produced over 2.5 goals. But, even if they open the scoring here, as they did in six of 14 PL home fixtures this term, it may not be the last goal – Aston Villa won just three of six PL home games in which they’ve scored first (D1, L2).

As for the visitors, they were on a three-game unbeaten league run (W2, D1) before the pandemic halted proceedings in England and are harboring a two-point lead over fifth-placed Manchester United ahead of the kick-off. However, the Blues have failed to seal three points in four consecutive PL road trips (D3, L1) despite managing to open the scoring on three of those occasions. Also, Frank Lampard’s men have often struggled to maintain focus after the halftime break. In fact, 66.67% (16) of the 24 PL away goals they’ve shipped so far came in the second half of play.