N’Golo Kante is out injured for the visiting Chelsea side that play Aston Villa at Villa Park with Thomas Tuchel’s side in need of a win to cement their top-four status in the final game of the league campaign.
The Blues had last played fellow Champions League hopefuls Leicester City in a game where they secured a narrow 2-1 win and Tuchel will be hoping of his players to do the same this time around as well.
Kovacic handed start in midfield with Kante injured
The France international had been withdrawn off the pitch recently with an injury as fears came into light of him being available for the UEFA Champions League final against Manchester City scheduled for later this month.
With Kante’s absence, Tuchel has given an outing to Mateo Kovacic who had just recently staged a return to the field after a lengthy hamstring injury and the Croatian starts in the centre of the park alongside Jorginho.
Werner trusted by Tuchel to get back to his best
Thomas Tuchel surprisingly decides to draft Timo Werner once again in the No.9 role for the Blues in spite of the player’s recent run of horrid showings leading to fans demanding his relegation to the bench.
The Chelsea boss does have the likes of Kai Havertz and Olivier Giroud to call upon off the bench should he require their services in the latter stages of the weekend clash.
Here is how both teams line up for today’s Premier League fixture:
Aston Villa FC XI
🟣 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🟣@EmiMartinezz1 and @MattyTargett both make their 𝟯𝟴𝘁𝗵 starts in the Premier League this season. 💪 #AVLCHE pic.twitter.com/y8DMKjiY5Z
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) May 23, 2021
Chelsea FC XI
Team news is in! 📝#AVLCHE pic.twitter.com/bi1fw0wEfi
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 23, 2021