Chelsea v Aston Villa team news as five ruled out and four return to contention

Aston Villa and Chelsea will hope to boost their chances of making a late push for a place in Europe when they meet at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.

The two sides go into the game sat just four points adrift of sixth-placed Liverpool, who face a tough-looking trip to title contenders Manchester City just hours before Villa take on the Blues in West London. Both Unai Emery and Chelsea counterpart Graham Potter have received mixed news on the injury front over the last 24 hours and they face some big decisions ahead of the clash.

BirminghamWorld takes a look at the latest team news ahead of the game.

Cash out for Villa

There was a major blow for Emery after defender Matty Cash suffered an injury on international duty with Poland. The Villa star suffered a calf injury during the early stages of his side’s Euro 2024 qualifier against the Czech Republic and is now expected to miss games against Chelsea, Leicester City and Nottingham Forest.

In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Cash said: "So so frustrating to have picked up a little injury. Worse than first expected but hopefully won’t be too long as I’ll be doing everything to get back out there."

Emery also confirmed Philippe Coutinho remains unavailable as he continues to work his way back from a thigh injury. Speaking in his pre-match press conference, he confirmed the Brazilian is making progress but is not yet ready to return to training with his team-mates.

Duo return to contention

There was some good news for Emery after Boubacar Kamara and Leander Dendoncker returned to training are are both expected to be available for the game.

The Villa boss gave an update on their progress, saying: “Kamara, this week, was training with us. If tomorrow he is ready, he is training normal, I think we can use him in the squad for the match on Saturday. Dendoncker as well has trained with us for the last two weeks normally, he is ready to play. The last players arrived today after their matches with their national teams. Hopefully tomorrow we can train normally and be ready for Saturday.”

Key defensive trio could miss out for Chelsea

Graham Potter has confirmed Chelsea will be without former Leicester City centre-back Wesley Fofana and experienced duo Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva.

Fofana missed out on appearing for France during the recent international break after suffering a hamstring injury and is not yet fully recovered and Azpilicueta and Silva are still working their way back from respective face and knee injuries. Christian Pulisic is being monitored after returning from international duty with the United States with what Potter described as ‘a heavy cold’.

Mixed news on England stars

Potter also confirmed England midfielder Mason Mount is ready to return to contention for a place among his substitutes after overcoming a groin injury - but the game will come too early for fellow Three Lions star Raheem Sterling as he enters the final stages of his recovery from a thigh injury.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the Blues boss said: “Raheem is coming back. He will miss the game, think he’s got more chance for Tuesday. He was close. Mason has trained and is available, probably not from the start but in the squad.”

Major decision to be made on Kante

Chelsea will also be able to call upon the services of midfielder Ngolo Kante but Potter has warned his comeback is being carefully managed.

He said: “We have to manage that as the next stage for us because he’s been out for so long. The minutes and building those minutes in the Premier League. He’s been training well and he’s had some behind closed doors time and he’s available in the squad and I’m pretty sure he will be on the pitch at some point tomorrow.”