Aston Villa visit Chelsea to Villa Park on Wednesday night, seeking to progress in the FA Cup after a 0-0 draw in the first leg at Stamford Bridge.
Mauricio Pochettino appears to be struggling at the moment, with Sunday’s 4-2 home defeat to Wolves adding to the pressure on the Blues’ manager, who must now focus on Wednesday night’s FA Cup replay against Aston Villa (8pm kick-off).
The embattled Argentine has received calls for his dismissal following a loss that dropped his team to 11th place in the Premier League, 15 points behind Villa. They are at least in the Carabao Cup final, but they could benefit from a result in the other knocked-out competition at Villa Park.
Chelsea’s injury difficulties appear to be lessening, with Ben Chilwell, Malo Gusto, and Christoper Nkunku all starting at Stamford Bridge over the weekend. However, the Londoners are still expected to be without a sizable contingent of players for the match against Unai Emery’s club.
Defender Levi Colwill, who pulled out in the Villa warm-up last month with what appeared to be a knee complaint, was absent against Wolves, and having not trained or played since January 23, he must be a doubt for midweek.
Trevoh Chalobah has not played this season owing to a thigh injury, but Chelsea announced before the weekend that he is focusing on fitness rather than rehabilitation, and Pochettino believes he is’really near’.
However, the same doesn’t look to be true of Reece James, who suffered a hamstring injury on December 10, while Lesley Ugochukwu is also hamstrung and been out since Christmas Eve.
Romeo Lavia has managed just one game since signing from Southampton and none since December 27 due to a thigh issue. Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez has not appeared in a squad since December 10, when he was taken off injured against Everton. His return date is said to be some time this month.
Marc Cucurella will be slightly longer, having also been injured at Goodison Park and since undergone surgery. Wesley Fofana is on the way back from a knee ligament injury, but still may not play this season.
