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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 6
Chelsea v Aston Villa
Stamford Bridge
London, England
Sunday, 24 September 2023
Kick-off is at 15h00
Chelsea will be seeking only their second win of the
Premier League season when they welcome Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, September 24.
New Blues head coach Mauricio Pochettino has picked up just five points from his opening five games since returning to England as the team has struggled to get going.
A growing injury list hasn't exactly helped matters, with 12 first-team players missing for the goalless draw at Bournemouth on September 17 which extended their winless run to two matches.
The good news for Pochettino's side is that they're not the only ones to have made an underwhelming start to the campaign as Manchester United (13th) and Newcastle (12th) are just one point better off than them in the standings.
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Villa seem to have gotten their act together after suffering a heavy 5-1 defeat to the Magpies on the opening weekend, winning three of their next four games.
A 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace on September 16 lifted the West Midlands giants up to seventh place, four points off the Champions League places.
Unai Emery's side are just two points behind Brighton, who continued their flying start to the season by beating the Red Devils 3-1 at Old Trafford to climb up to fifth position.
Chelsea have found goals hard to come by thus far, scoring just five in five matches. Raheem Sterling is their leading scorer with two and he was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet at the Vitality Stadium after his free-kick struck the right post and then the underside of the crossbar before bouncing down on the line.
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Moussa Diaby has made an impressive start to life at Villa Park, registering two goals and two assists in his first five appearances since making the switch from Bayer Leverkusen in the off-season. The French winger wasn't amongst the scorers in the 3-1 win over Palace. but he did set up Leon Bailey for the third late on.
Pochettino has called for the fans to have patience with Mykhailo Mudryk, who was handed his first start of the campaign against the Cherries. The Ukraine winger played a couple of neat passes, although he ultimately didn't make much of an impact and has now failed to score in 18 games for the Blues.
"He is improving. He still needs to learn; the Premier League is very fast, the speed of the game is so fast," the Argentine said.
"I think it's about understanding the game better, try to be more connected sometimes with the team. We need to give the time and to give the tools for him to improve during the season."
Emery paid tribute to the home support for helping to lift the players on the pitch after they went behind to the Eagles as the comeback made it 10 wins in a row across all competitions at Villa Park.
"We're very excited to play every match here with our supporters. We have now won 10 matches in a row, but the challenge is harder and more difficult in our way," the Spaniard said.
"Today we started losing - we didn't start losing the other matches - and our reaction was fantastic. Not tactically because after their goal we were losing our structure, but we played with our heart and our mind. We needed the supporters and I think the atmosphere was fantastic to get this reaction."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Chelsea - 3
Aston Villa - 2
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 6 fixtures:
Saturday, September 23
16h00: Crystal Palace v Fulham
16h00: Luton Town v Wolverhampton Wanderers
16h00: Manchester City v Nottingham Forest
18h30: Brentford v Everton
21h00: Burnley v Manchester United
Sunday, September 24
15h00: Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur
15h00: Brighton & Hove Albion v Bournemouth
15h00: Chelsea v Aston Villa
15h00: Liverpool v West Ham United
17h30: Sheffield United v Newcastle United
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