Frank Lampard is out to avoid a third straight Premier League defeat as Chelsea host Aston Villa on tonight.
Lampard has enjoyed a fine start to life as Chelsea coach, but back-to-back League defeats at Manchester City (2-1) and at home to West Ham (1-0) have soured the mood a little.
The Blues retain a six-point cushion in fourth place, but Lampard will be well aware that a resurgent Tottenham led by Jose Mourinho now appear to be their most realistic challengers for Champions League qualification.
Another problem for Chelsea is that Dean Smith's Villa side will be full of confidence having earned an impressive 2-2 draw at Manchester United on Sunday.
Premier League preview
Chelsea vs Aston Villa
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Date: Wednesday, 4 December, 2019
Kick-off time: 7:30pm GMT
Prediction: Chelsea 2-2 Aston Villa
Following on from that 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, Dean Smith will surely encourage his Villa players to go to the Bridge to try and get a win - especially after watching West Ham leave with all three points on Saturday.
Betting tips and odds via Betfair exchange
Correct score
- Chelsea to win: 1/3
- Villa to win: Between 10/1
- Draw: 5/1
| Scoreline | Chelsea win | Villa win | Draw |
| 1-0 | 11/1 | 12/1 | 47/1 | 0-0 (17/2) |
| 2-0 | 8/1 | 89/1 | 1-1 (11/1) |
| 2-1 | 9/1 | 33/1 | 2-2 (20/1) |
| 3-0 | 9/1 | 10/1 | 209/1 |
Odds provided by Betfair. Click here to place a bet. Odds correct as of December 4.
Tickets
Chelsea home tickets are sold out, but hospitality packages are still available. For more information, click here to head to the club's official website.
Villa away tickets are sold out.
Team news
Chelsea
After Olivier Giroud failed to shine against West Ham, Lampard will hope Tammy Abraham has recovered from the hip injury he suffered at Valencia.
Elsewhere, Antonio Rudiger and Ross Barkley are on the comeback trail, but Ruben Loftus-Cheek remains out.
Aston Villa
Smith should have Anwar El Ghazi back from a knee knock, though Keinan Davis and Jed Steer are both out.
Jose Peleteiro could be in contention, while Frederic Guilbert is suspended.
Predicted lineups
Chelsea XI: Kepa; James, Zouma, Christensen, Azpilicueta; Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic; Hudson-Odoi, Abraham, Pulisic
Villa XI: Heaton; Elmohamady, Konsa, Mings, Targett; McGinn, Luiz, Hourihane; El Ghazi, Wesley, Grealish
How to watch Chelsea vs Aston Villa
Along with every Premier League match in gameweek 15, the game will be available to live stream online on Amazon Prime.
Existing and new Prime members can watch on devices using the Prime Video app, across mobile, Fire TV, games consoles, Virgin’s V6 TV Box, BT TV, TalkTalk TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, online and more.
Amazon Prime is available for £7.99 per month/£79 a year, but you can watch any game this week if you start a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime.
You can follow all the action on Standard Sport's LIVE match blog with James Olley at Stamford Bridge.
Head to head (H2H) results history
Chelsea boast 62 wins to Villa's 57, along with 34 draws.
The Blues have won the last four League meetings - the last of which was a 4-0 victory at Villa Park in April 2016.
