Aston Villa vs Chelsea LIVE: FA Cup team news, line-ups and more tonight
(PA)
Aston Villa host Chelsea in an FA Cup fourth round replay as pressure mounts on Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino. A 4-2 loss to Wolves in the Premier League at the weekend put the manager back under the spotlight as the London club slipped into the bottom half of the table but a positive result this evening will ease the pressure.
Chelsea have already reached the Carabao Cup final and will be targeting a strong run in the FA Cup too though they face a tricky task to reach the next stage of the competition. Unai Emery’s Villa are flying in the league, they’re up to fourth and comprehensively defeated Sheffield United 5-0 last time out.
The previous fixture between the teams ended in a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge with Villa creating more chances on goal despite Chelsea seeing more possession. With the support of their home fans the midlands club will be hoping to get over the line and set up a fifth-round clash against Leeds or Plymouth Argyle.
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Aston Villa vs Chelsea LIVEAston Villa host Chelsea in an FA Cup fourth round replay with kick off at 8pm
Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Tyrone Mings are all absent leaving Villa short at centre-back
Chelsea have lost their two matches since the previous fixture in the competition against Villa
Chelsea XI: Petrovic, Gusto, Disasi, Badiashile, Chilwell, Gallagher, Caicedo, Enzo, Madueke, Jackson, Palmer
Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Diego Carlos, Lenglet, Alex Moreno, Bailey, Kamara, Douglas Luiz, McGinn, Tielemans, Watkins
Aston Villa FC - Chelsea FC
Aston Villa vs Chelsea19:19 , Sonia Twigg
Aston Villa made one change from their Premier League match at the weekend, with Matty Cash coming into the side in place of Ezri Konsa.
Chelsea also made a few changes with Thiago Silva among the substitutes, as are Raheem Sterling and Christopher Nkunku.
While, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson start.
Aston Villa vs Chelsea19:10 , Sonia Twigg
Here are some photos of the players arriving at Villa Park:
The player’s shirts are all laid out in the changing room (Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
The Chelsea players take a quick walk out onto the pitch (PA)
Mauricio Pochettino arrives at Villa Park (Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Aston Villa vs Chelsea19:06 , Sonia Twigg
A quick reminder that the winner of this match will host Leeds in the fifth round.
Aston Villa team news19:02 , Sonia Twigg
Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Diego Carlos, Lenglet, Alex Moreno, Bailey, Kamara, Douglas Luiz, McGinn, Tielemans, Watkins
Chelsea team news19:01 , Sonia Twigg
There are a host of changes from Chelsea, but here is the starting XI: Petrovic, Gusto, Disasi, Badiashile, Chilwell, Gallagher, Caicedo, Enzo, Madueke, Jackson, Palmer
Mauricio Pochettino is just a convenient fall guy for Chelsea’s ills – who would want to replace him?19:00 , Sonia Twigg
“No one is safe,” said Mauricio Pochettino. And if the reality that he is the fifth man to take charge of a Chelsea game in the brief, ignominious reign of Clearlake Capital offers some proof, so does the maxim that it is cheaper to change the manager than the players. Especially when the context is that the manager was only given a two-year deal while 14 of the players have contracts until the 2030s, five more until 2029 and a further eight until 2028.
Such continuity ought to provide reassurance. Not when Chelsea are mired in the lower half of the table, for a second successive season, and when perhaps only one arrival in their £1bn recruitment drive – the outstanding anomaly Cole Palmer – can be classed as a definitive success.
Mauricio Pochettino is just a convenient fall guy for Chelsea’s ills
Aston Villa vs Chelsea18:56 , Sonia Twigg
There’s some early team news from Chelsea:
Trevoh Chalobah – in team training for reconditioning phase.
Robert Sanchez – joined partial team training for reconditioning phase.
Levi Colwill – beginning reconditioning phase.
Marc Cucurella – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.
Wesley Fofana – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.
Reece James – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.
Romeo Lavia – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.
Lesley Ugochukwu – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme
Aston Villa vs Chelsea18:52 , Sonia Twigg
There has been a lot of talk surrounding Mauricio Pochettino’s future at Chelsea in recent days.
Their league position following the Wolves defeat is almost identical to the one they found themselves in a year ago, that prompted the sacking of former manager Graham Potter.
18:45 , Sonia Twigg
Mauricio Pochettino has rejected suggestions he said Chelsea’s players are not good enough, claiming his words following Sunday’s defeat by Wolves were taken out of context.
Immediately after the 4-2 loss at Stamford Bridge that left his team in the bottom half of the Premier League table, the Argentinian appeared to say he did not have the squad to significantly remedy the club’s plight.
Mauricio Pochettino rejects claims he said Chelsea players ‘are not good enough’
Aston Villa vs Chelsea18:06 , Sonia Twigg
Good evening and welcome to The Independent’s live blog coverage of the FA Cup fourth-round replay between Aston Villa and Chelsea.
The Blues have been subject to two heavy defeats in their last two matches, a 4-1 loss at Anfield, followed by a 4-2 home defeat to Wolves, but will want to bounce back and perform in the cup.
