"Chelsea's form has been pretty rotten recently" - Chris Sutton makes prediction for Aston Villa vs Chelsea

BBC pundit Chris Sutton has predicted Aston Villa to beat Chelsea in their Premier League clash on Saturday, February 22 at Villa Park. The columnist criticized the recent forms of both clubs but backed the Villans to score twice past the Blues.

In his column with BBC dated February 21, Chris Sutton first elaborated on Chelsea's recent form. The Blues stand sixth in the Premier League table with 43 points off 25 games. They have won only two out of their last five games in the league.

"Chelsea's form has been pretty rotten recently and their manager, Enzo Maresca, also needs a strong finish to the season. It doesn't help that Cole Palmer has lost his mojo, on top of their issues at centre-forward and in goal. Maresca really needs to make the Champions League places but nothing is clicking for his side at the moment," Sutton wrote.

Sutton then proceeded to talk about Aston Villa, adding:

"Aston Villa are probably in better shape in terms of their performances, but their results have also not been great with four draws and a defeat in their past five league games."

The BBC pundit finally settled for a 2-1 win for Aston Villa over Chelsea. The former English footballer has notably represented both clubs in his career.

"I had to think a bit about this one but I am going for my old club Villa to beat my old club Chelsea, and Maresca might start to come under a bit of pressure if this poor run carries on much longer," Sutton predicted.

In their last clash against the Villans in the Premier League (January 12), the Blues won 3-0 at Stamford Bridge. However, since then, Aston Villa has held table leaders Liverpool to a 2-2 draw in their latest league game. Therefore, Saturday's match promises to be an exciting clash.

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"The target, for sure, is top four" - Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca makes their goal clear ahead of Premier League clash vs. Aston Villa

Enzo Maresca - Source: Getty

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has reiterated that their objective this season is to qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season by finishing in the top four. In the pre-match press conference on Friday, he said (via BBC):

"We spent almost all the season in the top four and with 13 games to go, the target, for sure, is top four. We will try our best to achieve that knowing the difficult moment we have now with five or six significant players out."

He added:

"I'm here to win games and bring this club fighting for titles. The problem is when you win games, you look humble and when you don't win games, you look like a lack of ambition."

The Blues are competing in the UEFA Europa Conference League. They have been drawn against Kobenhavm for the knockout stage and the first leg away will take place on March 6. Their last Champions League campaign was in the 2022-23 season when they were knocked out after a 4-0 aggregate loss to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.