In an interview with Sky Sports ahead of today’s game against Aston Villa, Enzo Maresca spoke a little about his comments from a couple of weeks ago about a lack of support he felt at Chelsea, which ended up becoming a huge talking point.
Enzo Maresca has just taken his press conference after Chelsea’s defeat to Aston Villa in the Premier League this evening. The manager had to address a few topics, including how his team had been unable to complete their win despite a dominant first half performance and a lead.
Chelsea stuffed up their great chance to win against Aston Villa today after taking the lead at home. After the game, Enzo Maresca was asked to explain the collapse suffered by his team, another pretty meek capitulation from a side that has made a habit of it.
Chelsea were dominant in the first half against Aston Villa, but ended up losing the game 2-1 after conceding twice in the second period. There were a lot of players who frustrated, especially among the attackers.
Chelsea are winning 1-0 at half time against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge. It’s a well deserved score line. The Blues are all over their opposition, and if they hadn’t gone in ahead they would have been truly full of regrets after they dominated with a really impressive showing.
Enzo Maresca’s favoured back 4 is pretty established at this point, and we expected to see them today. However instead the coach has dropped Wesley Fofana, breaking up his really successful partnership with Trevoh Chalobah.
Chelsea face Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge in just over an hour, and the teams are in! In recent games against top teams, including the one last week against Newcastle, Enzo Maresca has strengthened his starting XI by putting Reece James into midfield.
Sky Sports’ predictions for today’s huge Chelsea – Aston Villa game are in, and it’s not good for the Blues. Villa roll into the game on a run of 10 wins in a row, but perhaps aren’t as menacing as that record would suggest, given they’ve scored some fantastic goals and nicked some wins in that time.
Usually Christmas feels packed full of games – in this case, Chelsea have had their first week off for a while, meaning that today’s clash with Aston Villa has felt like a long time coming.
Chelsea take on Aston Villa this afternoon, and while this is really a game of two teams towards the top of the table looking to convince everyone (or perhaps, anyone) that they’re really title contenders and not just aiming to stay in the top four mix, there’s a new narrative thread emerging.
With the season reaching the halfway point, it’s interesting to now have a look at the stats and the data and see what conclusions we can draw about how Chelsea are getting on.
Because of the weird timings of the Christmas schedule, Enzo Maresca ended up doing his press conference previewing today’s Aston Villa game way back at the start of the week, and there’s since been a little update from the coach.
Serie A outfit Roma are in talks over a permanent move for Chelsea outcast Axel Disasi according to reports in Italy. Disasi is part of the infamous “bomb” squad after he failed to secure a move away from Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Enzo Maresca has insisted he’s happy with Filip Jorgensen, but refused to rule out the goalkeeper leaving in January. Jorgensen joined Chelsea from Spanish side Villarreal in a deal worth £20.9m in the summer of 2024, but has struggled to make an impact at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have had a lot of manager turnover in recent years, and they could be searching for a new one again in 2026. Enzo Maresca has impressed since taking the reins at Stamford Bridge, and he could now be tempted into joining another club.
Chelsea legend Thiago Silva was never under consideration for a return to the club despite reports according to The Athletic. Silva spent four years at Chelsea, and left the club at the end of the 2023/2024 season having helped the Blues win their second Champions League title.
Tyrique George is attracting interest from a number of teams in the Premier League and Champions League clubs in Europe according to The Athletic. George saw a move to Fulham fall through on deadline day despite a fee of £22m being agreed between the clubs.
Josh Acheampong has been backed to stay at Chelsea and continue his development according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness. Acheampong is a graduate of Chelsea’s famed Cobham academy and was promoted to the first team squad by Enzo Maresca last season.
Chelsea are among the Premier League clubs closely monitoring Bayern Munich midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic according to reports. The Blues once again heavily invested in the summer, and revamped the frontline with five new attacking signings.
Enzo Maresca has revealed why Jamie Gittens wasn’t part of the squad for last weekend’s draw against Newcastle. Gittens’ absence from the match day squad was noticeable, but until now no reason had been given as to why he missed the game.
Enzo Maresca has confirmed Jorrel Hato will miss Saturday’s game against Aston Villa after picking up an injury in the warm up before the Newcastle game.
Chelsea are open to selling young midfielder Leo Castledine, who has generated interest from several Championship clubs amid his impressive loan season at Huddersfield, according to reports.