With Aston Villa winless in seven matches in all competitions, football writer Alex Keble looks at what Unai Emery could do ahead of Sunday's trip to Chelsea.
Aston Villa are one of several Premier League clubs who are probably relieved to find the table so unusually compressed at the one-third stage of the season.
Winless in seven matches in all competitions for the first time under Unai Emery and with just one win in six in the Premier League, UEFA Champions League qualification might have been disappearing into the distance.
Instead, Villa are only three points behind third-placed Chelsea, meaning victory at Stamford Bridge on Sunday wouldn’t just provide Villa with a much-needed reset but would put them back in control of the race for Champions League football.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
12 | +16 | 31 |
| 2 |
Man City
MCI
|
12 | +5 | 23 |
| 3 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
12 | +9 | 22 |
| 4 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
12 | +9 | 22 |
| 5 |
Brighton
BHA
|
12 | +5 | 22 |
| 6 |
Spurs
TOT
|
12 | +14 | 19 |
| 7 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
12 | +2 | 19 |
| 8 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
12 | 0 | 19 |
But to win at Chelsea will require a change of approach. Here’s a look at what’s been going wrong for Villa – and what Emery can do to to fix it.
Lack of midfield control
Villa have kept just one clean sheet in the last 17 Premier League matches and have made nine errors leading to shots this season, only two short of their entire total of 11 last campaign.
However, their tally for non-penalty Expected Goals Against (xGA) is just 13.0, which is the fourth-best total. Only Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, with 11.5, and Liverpool, with 9.6, are performing better.
Nevertheless, there is a strong sense that Villa aren’t defending as well, and it all comes down to their control of central midfield.
Since the sale of Douglas Luiz – Villa's Rodri-like presence in the middle – Emery's side aren’t able to sweep up loose balls or hold possession in quite the same way.
Youri Tielemans is a more direct player. His risky long-range passes when times call for caution has led to a loss of control, and consequently Villa have been more prone to defensive errors and goals conceded from counter-attacks.
Tielemans' passing compared to Douglas Luiz's
| Pass completion | Prog. passes/90 | |
| Douglas Luiz (23/24) | 89.4% | 5.7 |
|---|---|---|
| Tielemans (24/25) | 82.5% | 7.5 |
It’s an issue exacerbated by the lack of athleticism in midfield, because without Douglas Luiz or Boubacar Kamara – the latter returning from injury to impress against Juventus – Villa have struggled to anticipate opposition breaks.
This was particularly the case in their 2-2 draw at home to Crystal Palace last weekend, when the midfield pairing of Ross Barkley and Tielemans was simply too slow to cope.
Villa's goals conceded v Palace
Diaby's exit and Bailey's form put pressure on Rogers
Moussa Diaby contributed 14 goals and assists in the Premier League last season before leaving in the summer and his replacement Jaden Philogene is stuck on zero, while Leon Bailey, who hit 19 goals and assists last campaign, only has two assists so far in 2024/25.
John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey are also yet to hit their stride, so too much emphasis is put on funnelling attacks through Morgan Rogers, and Ollie Watkins has missed the joint-most big chances in the Premier League this season alongside Erling Haaland, with 12.
All of this explains why Villa have only scored 19 Premier League goals, down from 29 at the same stage last season.
So, they need to sharpen up and find new creative outlets at one end of the pitch while gaining greater control of matches to avoid concessions at the other.
Here’s how they can do it at Chelsea.
Integrate Kamara and Maatsen to shake up the attack
Bailey’s form suggests he needs to be taken out of the firing line, while Tielemans’ directness lessens Villa’s control of midfield, and too much is being asked of Rogers.
All three issues could be rectified by playing the now-fit Kamara in midfield, moving Tielemans into the No 10 position and switching Rogers out to the right wing.
On the other flank, Ian Maatsen – who started his first Premier League match for Villa last weekend – can counterbalance Rogers, giving Villa more urgent thrust on both wings against a Chelsea team who are vulnerable here.
Three-quarters of the attacks Chelsea have faced have come down the wings this season.
Attacks faced by Chelsea this season
Furthermore, eight of the 14 goals they have conceded in the Premier League have come from out wide.
Chelsea goals conceded from wide areas
Villa could do with revitalising both their left and right wings to hit Chelsea’s weakest area, yet that isn’t even the biggest advantage of using Kamara.
Halting Chelsea's counter-attacks
Chelsea rank second in the Premier League for fast breaks leading to a shot, with 17, third for through-balls attempted,with 32, and third for direct attacks with 56.
Enzo Maresca has embraced fast-transition football using the runs of Nicolas Jackson and creativity of Cole Palmer to burst behind high lines like Aston Villa’s.
Where Chelsea rank for fast attacks 24/25
| Total | PL rank | |
| Fast breaks leading to shot | 17 | 2nd |
| Direct attacks | 56 | 3rd |
| Attempted through-balls | 32 | 3rd |
It means Emery needs to be particularly cautious.
At Stamford Bridge, caution means recycling the ball, winning loose balls and compressing space between the lines.
Villa’s touches per 90 have fallen from 606.8 in 2023/24 to 582.7, and this 24.1 difference is accounted for almost entirely by touches in their own third.
This tells us Villa are too often struggling to keep the ball here, with players like Tielemans preferring the line-breaking option to a simpler sideways pass that helps Emery’s side retain possession and limit dangerous turnovers.
Bringing in Kamara would change that, while using a third central midfielder – Tielemans – as the No 10 could further solidify Villa’s control of the middle third.
Emery suggested this was a key aim when he explained this week what Villa must do to get back to winning ways.
“We are working on it and you have to feel strong in our structure, not only thinking defensively,” he said.
“We have to improve. We must be stronger in everything defensively, starting with the ball and starting to dominate matches.”
For that, Emery needs Kamara back in the team – that and a shake-up in the final third that can hit Chelsea down both wings.
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