Chelsea travel to Villa Park to lock horns with Aston Villa on the final day of the Premier League campaign on Sunday afternoon, knowing that they could finish anywhere between third and fifth in the table.
Chelsea will be looking to
wrap up a top-four spot in the Premier League when they lock horns with Aston
Villa at Villa Park in their final league outing of the campaign tomorrow
afternoon.
The Blues, who moved
one step closer towards achieving their target with a 2-1 win over top-four rivals
Leicester City on Tuesday evening, will finish third with a victory, regardless
of what Leicester and Liverpool do in their respective clashes with Tottenham
Hotspur and Crystal Palace.
However, if Chelsea drop points, either by
drawing or losing, they will slide out of the top-four if Leicester and
Liverpool both secure maximum points, highlighting just how much pressure is on
their shoulders.
For Villa, they have very little to play for as they are
guaranteed to finish the campaign in 11th, as they cannot climb the table or
slide down it. Thus, that could work in Chelsea’s favour.
However, Dean Smith’s side will be hoping to put on a show for
their returning fans and end the season in style, as well as looking to build
on Wednesday evening’s 2-1 triumph over Tottenham.
Whilst Thomas Tuchel will be stressing over the
availability of both N’Golo Kante and Kai Havertz ahead of kick-off, Smith
has been boosted by the news that attacking-midfielder Jack Grealish has not
suffered any setbacks after making his first start since February on Wednesday
evening following a lengthy spell on the sidelines through injury.
His availability is a huge boost for the home side, as they look
to record their first win over Chelsea since 2014.
But whilst Grealish will be chomping at the bit to end the campaign
on a high, Smith will be without right-back Matty Cash, Ross Barkley, who
is on loan from Chelsea, Morgan Sanson and Trezeguet.
Cash is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and has been
forced to miss the last two matches.
“He is out for the season,” Smith said earlier this week. “He’s
got a recurrence of a hamstring injury which is nowhere near as bad as the one
he sustained before.”
Sanson, meanwhile, is struggling with a knee injury and will miss
out. The Frenchman joined Villa in January from Marseille and has played no
part in the last seven matches.
Egyptian winger Trezeguet is also sidelined with a knee injury,
but his is much more severe, resulting in him needing surgery.
On him, Smith recently said: “He’s had a significant knee injury
which is normally nine months. We never like to put a time frame on injuries
but that’s the average time to come back.
“Some come back earlier, some come back later.”
Smith has not reported any fresh injury concerns from the win over
Tottenham, but will, of course, be without Barkley due to him being ineligible
to feature.
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