Aston Villa vs Chelsea
A massive few days lay ahead of Aston Villa.
Villa mark the return of the Premier League season on Wednesday night when they host Sheffield United at Villa Park.
Dean Smith’s relegation strugglers are back in action at home on Sunday when Chelsea visit the Midlands.
When the Premier League stopped in March, Villa were second-bottom of the league while Chelsea were 4th.
ISTANBUL, TURKEY – AUGUST 14: N Golo Kante of Chelsea FC looks on prior to the UEFA Super Cup match between FC Liverpool and FC Chelsea at Vodafone Park on August 14, 2019 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by TF-Images/ Getty Images)
N’Golo Kante predicted to miss out vs Aston Villa
On Tuesday, the Athletic have released their latest edition of the ‘Straight Outta Cobham’ podcast with Chelsea reporters Dom Fiefield, Simon Johnson and Liam Twomey.
The reporters offered their insight into how Chelsea may line up at Villa Park.
The Blues will be without Jorginho due to a suspension, while the Athletic predict that N’Golo Kante won’t start the match either.
Kante opted to stay away from Chelsea training for a couple of weeks due to personal concerns during the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead, Billy Gilmour could line up with Mateo Kovacic in midfield, while Frank Lampard could deploy an attacking line-up for the road trip.
Those attacking slots could include Tammy Abraham, Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount.
Chelsea predicted XI vs Aston Villa
Chelsea predicted XI vs Aston Villa
Athletic analyse the Kai Havertz transfer
After signing Hakim Ziyech from Ajax, while Timo Werner seems certain to join from RB Leipzig, will Chelsea also sign Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen?
That issue was also discussed by the Athletic’s Chelsea reporters, who seem convinced that the Blues are trying to sign Havertz this summer. Reporter Dom Fifield commented:
(Havertz) does feel like a difficult transfer to secure, but Chelsea have already demonstrated they are willing to flex their muscles financially.
If (Chelsea) feel that Havertz will offer them something very different to what they already have – they are obviously gearing up for a future without Willian and Pedro – it’s not implausible that they go into the market and lodge a bid for him.
It was also suggested that Chelsea would need to pay 70 million pounds to sign Havertz.
Listen to the ‘Straight Outta Cobham’ podcast
See also: Manchester City vs Arsenal preview: Premier League live streaming and betting tips
Aston Villa vs Sheffield United preview: Premier League live streaming & betting tips
