Chelsea Vs Aston Villa Prediction, Odds And Team News

Chelsea will be chasing more silverware under Thomas Tuchel when they start their Carabao Cup campaign against Aston Villa on Wednesday night.

Earlier this month, the two sides met in the Premier League, with new summer signing Romelu Lukaku leading by example as the Blues ran out 3-0 winners to cement themselves as genuine challengers for the title.

Understandably, Villa have taken some time to gel following the sale of Jack Grealish to Manchester City, however, they thumped Everton last time out and look like a force to be reckoned with.

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Having been handed a particularly tough draw, Dean Smith's men will look to gain revenge for their league defeat and dump the heavily-fancied Blues out of the competition, but can they do it?

Antonio Rudiger, Thiago Silva and Andreas Christensen have all had fine starts and will be confident of leading the Blues to yet another clean sheet.

However, Lukaku is expected to be rested for Chelsea and his replacement Timo Werner continues to be low on confidence in front of goal - meaning that tonight's affair could be a low-scoring one.

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Tuchel will likely use this opportunity to rotate his squad, with the likes of Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell expected to feature from the start.

Saul Niguez should also start, having made his Blues debut in the victory over Villa following his loan move from Atletico Madrid.

Aston Villa have a far longer list of issues to deal with, as Matty Cash, Matt Targett and Leon Bailey all pulled up with muscle injuries in the win over Everton.

In terms of their line-up, Smith will likely add more experience than they did against Barrow Town last time out in the cup, with the likes of Bertrand Traore and Ollie Watkins expected to play key roles.