Maresca and Emery hail ‘fantastic’ European displays ahead of Stamford Bridge clash

Enzo Maresca and Unai Emery both praised “fantastic” European performances from Chelsea and Aston Villa respectively ahead of their clash on Sunday.

Villa visit Stamford Bridge on Wednesday after a 0-0 draw against Juventus in the Champions League.

Chelsea defeated Heidenheim 2-0 on Thursday.

And both bosses were delighted with what they saw from their teams during their midweek matches.

Maresca, who named a team of fringe players, suggested Thursday's clash was the ideal opportunity to build up his chances of getting some minutes into the second series.

“They did a fantastic job. I think they all did,” he said.

“Jadon Sancho played a very good match. Axel [Disasi] and Benoit [Badiashile]. Cesare Casadei did well. They are ready and it is important.

“Filip Jorgensen played a very good game. We have nine to ten games in December, so they will get more chances. They have to be ready.”

4 – Christopher Nkunku is the first Chelsea player to score in each of his first four major European games for the club, and the first to score a total of four in a row since Olivier Giroud in 2018/19. Remarkable. pic.twitter.com/8wl3SFyjH1

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 28, 2024

Emery had to come out much stronger with his selection against Juve, with Villa somewhat callously denied a late winner when Morgan Rogers had a goal disallowed.

“It was fantastic,” said Emery, even though his team is now winless in seven games.

“We needed a game like this, playing seriously with a clean sheet, defending strongly, being compact and then trying to impose and dominate some parts of the game.

“We didn't create many chances, but we didn't concede many chances either. We were closer to a goal and we got better and better in the second half.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Chelsea – Nicolas Jackson

Five of Jackson's seven Premier League goals this season have given Chelsea a 1-0 lead in the match. In this weekend's matches, only Chris Wood (six) has scored the opening goal in more different matches this season.

Aston Villa – Ollie Watkins

Watkins has scored in his last two Premier League away games against Chelsea, with both ultimately being the winning goal of the match.

No visiting player has ever scored three match-winning goals at Stamford Bridge in the competition.

MATCH PREDICTION: CHELSEA WIN

Chelsea are winless in their last three Premier League meetings with Villa (D1-L2), the last time they played a longer series against them between February 2006 and December 2007 (five).

Indeed, Villa have won their last two Premier League away games against Chelsea, the same number as in their previous 21 visits to Stamford Bridge (D4 L15). They last won three consecutive away games against the Blues between 1930 and 1933.

However, Opta's supercomputer still makes the Blues the favorites.

Villa are winless in their last four Premier League games (D2 L2). They last went five times without a win between May and August 2022, while they last did so in the same season in March/April 2022 (both runs under Steven Gerrard).

Chelsea have conceded at least once in all six home games in the Premier League this season. The last time the team had to wait longer for a clean sheet was from the start of a league match in 1978/79 (nine games).

OPTA CHANCE OF WINNING

Chelsea – 52%

Aston Villa – 25.2%

Draw – 22.8%