Aston Villa vs Chelsea – Premier League: Live score, team news and updates as Cole Palmer STARTS for under-pressure Mauricio Pochettino after missing Blues’ dismal defeat at Arsenal

Kieran Gill, Mail Sport, at Villa Park:

After all that, no Reece James in the squad! Chelsea’s social media team got us hook, line and sinker. But in bigger news, Cole Palmer starts after overcoming his illness. Interesting that the club have posted the line-up as if Palmer is up front with Nicolas Jackson on the left wing, Mykhailo Mudryk in the middle and Noni Madueke on the right. But after the James fiasco, they’ve destroyed my trust…

There we go then, Cole Palmer starts for Chelsea.

I’m a little bit surprised that Mauricio Pochettino has only made three changes from the side that got battered by Arsenal, I thought there would be a mass exodus.

Trevoh Chalobah and Thiago Silva are the other two changes, replacing Alfie Gilchrist and Axel Disasi. Enzo Fernandez is the player who makes way for Palmer, he is out until the end of the season.

It also appears Kieran and I were duped by Chelsea’s social media team, there is no place in the squad for Reece James.

Douglas Luiz returns to the starting 11.

He is the one change that Unai Emery has made to the side that beat Bournemouth 3-1 last week.

Moussa Diaby is the unlucky player to make way for him.

The Chelsea players have arrived at Villa Park and they look like they mean business.

They will be desperate to avenge their 5-0 loss to rivals Arsenal, but will they have the help of Cole Palmer from the start?

We will find out in just a couple of minutes…

Aston Villa have waited a long time to do a league double over Chelsea, is today the day?

The last time they managed it was back in the 1989-90 campaign. To put how long ago that is into context, that 10 years before I was born (apologies if I have just made you feel old).

The good news for Villa is that they have won their last two league matches against Chelsea.

They are in supreme form too, so you wouldn’t bet against them making it three in a row.

Well then, that was a very good spot by Kieran!

It would be huge for Chelsea if Reece James is indeed available for selection tonight.

They have been missing both his leadership and his talents for far too long. It’s been another really tough season for the captain.

We will find out if he makes the squad in just over 10 minutes…

Kieran Gill, Mail Sport, at Villa Park:

Interesting photo uploaded to Chelsea’s Twitter feed as, in the background, I can spy the number 24. That’s Reece James’s shirt, so you have to assume he’s going to be in the squad for the first time since December 10. Needs must, for Mauricio Pochettino, because he’s got so many injured players, he probably needs to start using the ones returning earlier than he would like.

Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea boss, speaking on Friday:

We had a meeting (on Friday) and we tried to explain how we need to behave when the game is tough and when the demands are so high. We need to try to be stronger, to really trust in the way we play, to trust in our philosophy, the way we prepare the games and everything that follows, and also to have discipline.

We have to be positive, be strong, and believe that we can have a good game [against Aston Villa. We need a good attitude and a good approach, and go there to compete with a team that is fighting to be in the Champions League next season. We need to think, “We are Chelsea”, respect ourselves, and do our best to win the game and be competitive.

I bet Chelsea fans love the away end at Villa Park.

Chelsea give them something to cheer about almost every time they make the journey up to the West Midlands.

The Blues have won seven of their last nine Premier League visits to Villa Park, losing the other two.

They also won an FA Cup replay 3-1 at the stadium earlier this season, so even when Chelsea are struggling, Villa Park comes through.

Will the strong record continue this evening?

The Aston Villa fans are looking well up for this.

The child in the photo looks very happy to be holding that flare, and they are not the only one.

You can feel the buzz around Villa Park, you just get the sense the atmosphere will be booming tonight.

When this stadium starts rocking it’s incredibly hard to be the away side.

Mauricio Pochettino came out swinging yesterday.

He said he is not the only one on trial at Chelsea because everyone at the club must prove why they do not deserve to be dumped.

Pochettino also admitted he hasn’t spoken to the owners in months and communicates through Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.

It feels a little like that pointing Spiderman meme behind the scenes…

Let’s start with the good news, shall we?

Cole Palmer is back in contention for this one after recovering from illness. After that, it’s a bit grim for Chelsea supporters.

Malo Gusto is again missing today and he has been joined on the treatment table by Raheem Sterling and Carney Chukwuemeka.

Enzo Fernandez underwent surgery, ruling him out for the rest of the season and gutting Mauricio Pochettino’s midfield.

It’s rather downcast over Villa Park this evening and that ironically matches up to the deflated mood that has gripped Chelsea.

Mauricio Pochettino has 12 players out today, a whole starting XI plus an extra player, but his side must respond to the loss at Arsenal.

They were, in truth, pretty woeful that day and patience among supporters is now running very thin. No pressure, then!

Let’s go through that lengthy list of absentees next…

Hello, all. I hope you’ve just about recovered from the earlier action in the Premier League. There were so many twists and turns again!

We now turn our attention to matters at Villa Park. Surely just one more defeat spells the end for Chelsea’s European football hopes?

That may well prove fatal for Mauricio Pochettino, too, although he did, in fairness to him, come out swinging with his comments yesterday.

Villa, meanwhile, are so close to wrapping up a top-four finish at the expense of Tottenham. They’re currently six points ahead of Spurs.

I fancy this one to be a bit of a goalfest…

Stay right here for all the team news and minute-by-minute updates!