11 in a Row, Class wins out
- James
- Dec 28, 2025
- 8 min read
Match Details
Match: #5807
Season: 2025-26
Matchday: #25
League Game: #18
Manager Game: #165
Date: Saturday, 27 December 2025
Manager: Unai Emery | šŖšø | Hondarribia, 2022-
Referee: Stuart Attwell | š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ | Nuneaton, 2009-
Kick off: 5.30pm
Last Time Out
š© 22 Feb 2025, Villa 2-1 Chelsea, Villa Park
Scorer(s): Marco Asensio | 57' | 89' |
Assist(s): Marcus Rashford | 57' | 89' |
Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5764
Head to Head
Previous 5 vs. Chelsea: šØ š„ šØ š„ š©
Total š 168 | š© W62 (37% ) | šØ D38 | šŗ(60% ) | š„ L68 (40% ) | ā½ 238 | š„ 264 | GD -26
Full Head to Head: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/chelsea
Last Five Games
š© š© š© š© š©
Last Ten Games
š© š© š© š© š© š© š© š© š© š©
Injury News
Tyrone Mings, Ross Barkley and Pau Torres remain sidelined. Mings misses his 11th consecutive game and is not expected to return until the New Year. Barkley is likely out until February, whilst Torres is pencilled is another New Year's resolution
Jadon Sancho returns but Harvey Elliott's nowhere to be seen.
Team News
Jamaldeen returns for the first time in two months, but the big news is Ollie Watkins and Amadou Onana drop to the bench with Donyell Malen 'leading the line' at Stamford Bridge.
The Opposition
It's back to West London and Stamford Bridge as the Ā£2bn boys try and become a force again. Whether a manager with a negative mindset, such as Enzo Maresca, is the man to do it is a moot point - but then again, it worked for Jose Mourinho.
Just the two Ā£100m in Chelsea's starting line up but then again ten of their twenty man squad cost more than Villa's most expensive starter.
Line Up
GK Emiliano MartĆnez | š¦š· |
RB Matty Cash | š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ šµš± | šØ |
CB Ezri Konsa | š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ |
CB Victor Lindelƶf | šøšŖ |
LB Ian Maatsen | š³š± | š |
DM Boubacar Kamara | š«š· | šØ | š |
CM John McGinn | š“ó §ó ¢ó ³ó £ó “ó æ | š |
CM Youri Tielemans | š§šŖ | š„ |
AM Emiliano BuendĆa | š¦š· | š |
AM Morgan Rogers | š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ | šØ |
RW Donyell Malen | š³š± | š |
Did you know?
Matty Cash collects his 46th booking in a Villa shirt... closing in on John McGinn's all-time record of 69.
Bouba and Rogers get their 21st apiece, for Rogers, he's done it in less than 100 games, almost Ciaran Clark levels.
Substitutes
š | CF Ollie Watkins | š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ | ā½ | ā½ | for AM Emiliano BuendĆa | š¦š· | 59ā |
š | LW Jadon Sancho | š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ | for RW Donyell Malen | š³š± | 59ā |
š | DM Amadou Onana | š§šŖ | for CM John McGinn | š“ó §ó ¢ó ³ó £ó “ó æ | 59ā |
š | LB Lucas Digne | š«š· | for LB Ian Maatsen | š³š± | 83ā |
š | DM Lamare Bogarde | š³š± | for DM Boubacar Kamara | š«š· | 83ā |
Unused Substitutes
GK Marco Bizot | š³š± |
RB AndrĆ©s GarcĆa | šŖšø |
M George Hemmings | š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ |
CM Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba | š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ |
First Half Timeline
ā 2ā Chelsea shoot wide
š„ 9ā MoisĆ©s Caicedo goes in late on Boubacar Kamara, referee Attwell takes no action for a clear yellow card offence
š„ 15ā Marc Cucurella with a cynical challenge on Morgan Rogers, referee Attwell takes no action
š„ 15ā referee Attwell lectures Morgan Rogers for his reaction to the challenge, pushing Cucurella to the ground
ā 18ā Chelsea shoot wide
ā 21ā Chelsea shot blocked
ā 24ā Chelsea shot saved by Emiliano MartĆnez
ā 26ā Chelsea shot blocked
šØ 30ā Booking, Matty Cash, Bad Foul
š„ 30ā Cashās booking is warranted as Villa, led by captain John McGinn, questions referee Attwell and fourth official Robinson as to why previous Chelsea offences have not been punished.
ā 34ā Chelsea shoot wide
š„ 37 Goal, 0-1, (Chelsea), JoĆ£o Pedro, Chelsea take the lead with a goal the goalscorer knew absolutely nothing about with Emi Martinez stranded due to Chelseaās blocking tactics round the ākeeper
š„ 39ā John McGinn dishes out retribution to Marc Cucurella, referee Attwell takes no action
š„ 40ā Matty Cash dishes out more retribution to Marc Cucurella, referee Attwell takes no action
ā 40ā Chelsea shot blocked
ā 42ā Chelsea shot saved by Emiliano MartĆnez
š 45ā+3 HT Chelsea 1-0 Aston Villa
Half-Time Insight
Some unpleasant stuff from Chelsea and very little response from Villa. That the goal was entirely unintended makes it even more galling.
Second Half Timeline
š„ 47ā Chelsea claim handball is quickly and correctly rebuffed by the officials, desperate stuff
ā ā 51ā Morgan Rogers shot blocked
ā ā 55ā Emiliano BuendĆa shot blocked
š„ 57ā Reece James and Morgan Rogers square up in the box
šØ 57ā Booking, Morgan Rogers
[šØ] 57ā Booking, (Chelsea), Reece James
ā 58ā Chelsea shoot wide
š 59ā Sub off, Emiliano BuendĆa, Sub on, Ollie Watkins
š 59ā Sub off, Donyell Malen, Sub on, Jadon Sancho
š 59ā Sub off, John McGinn, Sub on, Amadou Onana
ā ā 61ā Boubacar Kamaraās shot saved by Sanchez
ā ā 63ā Ollie Watkinsā shot saved by Sanchez
ā½ 63ā Goal!, 1-1, Ollie Watkins, Assist by Morgan Rogers with the throughball
ā ā 66ā Ian Maatsen shot saved by Sanchez
[šØ] 68ā Booking (Chelsea), Trevoh Chalobah, Bad Foul
ā ā 70ā Ollie Watkinsā shot saved by Sanchez
[šØ] 71ā Booking (Chelsea), MoisĆ©s Caicedo, Bad Foul
[šØ] 71ā Booking (Chelsea), Liam Delap, Bad Foul
ā ā 73ā Morgan Rogersā free kick just clears the bar
ā 76ā Chelsea shot blocked
šØ 78ā Booking, Boubacar Kamara, Bad Foul
ā 81ā Chelsea shot blocked
š 83ā Sub off, Ian Maatsen, Sub on, Lucas Digne
š 83ā Sub off, Boubacar Kamara, Sub on, Lamare Bogarde
ā½ 84ā Goal!, 2-1, Ollie Watkins, Assist by Youri Tielemans
ā 87ā Chelsea shot blocked
ā ā 88ā Chance! Jadon Sanchoās shot saved by Sanchez
š„ Chelseaās Robert Sanchez handles outside of the area, referee Attwell takes no action for a straight red card offence
ā ā 90ā+1 Chance! Lucas Digne shoots from outside the box, saved by a ākeeper who shouldnāt be on the pitch
[šØ] 90ā+4 Booking (Chelsea), Enzo FernĆ”ndez
š 90ā+6 HT Chelsea 1-2 Aston Villa
Full-Time Insight
Villa are roughed up for 45 minutes as Chelsea pepper the game with shots and cynical fouls, and Villa seemingly donāt know how to react. The second 45ā sees a game transformed, Chelsea tire quickly, Villaās chances start early and continue throughout the half as Chelseaās cynical tactics donāt bother Villa half as much once in the ascendancy. An inspired set of Unai Emery substitutions runs the home side ragged. Villa confound the pundits once again and make it eleven wins in a row thanks to Ollie Watkinsā brace. Thereās even room not to be annoyed that both MoisĆ©s Caicedo and Robert Sanchez, and arguably Marc Cucurella should not have been on the pitch to witness the final whistle and Villa stretching their lead over Chelsea to ten points.
Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5807
Officials
Referee: Stuart Attwell | š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ | Nuneaton, 2009-
Game Rating: 5/10
Didn't make any huge howlers as is his norm but his failure to sanction Cucurella allowed Chelsea's cynical tactics to grow in the first 45 and his failure to send off Sanchez for handling outside the area was just typical of the gob-smacking incompetence that has always accompanied Attwell.
Referee: Stuart Attwell | š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ | Nuneaton, 2009-
š 23 | š© 12 | šØ 5 | š„ 6 |
š 23 | š© 52% | šØ 22% | š„ 26% |
Cards šØ 55 | š„ 2 | 2.48 |
Opposition Cards šØ 58 | š„ 3 | 2.65 |
Penalty ā½ 5 | š„ 2 |
Last 5: š© š© š„ š„ š©
Full Referee History: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/referee/stuart-attwell
VAR: Paul Howard | š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ | London, 2025-
Game Rating: Will give him a pass
Not fair to judge a novice but he really should have had Attwell on speed-dial for his failure to clamp down on Chelsea.
VAR: Paul Howard | š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ | London, 2025-
š 1 | š© 1 | šØ 0 | š„ 0 |
š 1 | š© 100% | šØ 0% | š„ 0% |
Cards šØ 3 | š„ 0 | 3.00 |
Opposition Cards šØ 5 | š„ 0 | 5.00 |
Penalty ā½ 0 | š„ 0 |
Last 5: š©
The Boss
š 165 | š© | 93 šØ | 29 š„ 43 | 1.87
11th Longest Serving Villa Manager, overtaking Brian Little (164 Games)
Highest Win rate of any Villa manager: 56.36% Closest Rival: 1886-26 George Ramsay | š“ó §ó ¢ó ³ó £ó “ó æ | Management Committee: 49.55%
Highest Away Win rate of any Villa manager: 45.68%
Closest Rival: 2006-10 Martin O'Neill | š¬š§ | 40.63%
Highest Top Flight Win rate of any Villa manager: 55.46%
Closest Rival: 1886-26 George Ramsay | š“ó §ó ¢ó ³ó £ó “ó æ | Management Committee: 48.14%
Lowest Loss Rate of any Villa manager: 26.06%
Closest Rival: 2006-10 Martin O'Neill | š¬š§ | 26.32%
Last Eleven Games
š© š© š© š© š© š© š© š© š© š© š©
Villa win eleven consecutive games for the first time since the 1913-14 season under George Ramsay š“ó §ó ¢ó ³ó £ó “ó æ
No Villa team has won more than 11 consecutive games.
Villa win eight consecutive top flight games for the first time since the 1910-11 season under George Ramsay š“ó §ó ¢ó ³ó £ó “ó æ (9)
On This Day
Ollie Watkins š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ scores his 92nd goal for Villa, overtaking Peter Witheās š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ 91.
Emiliano BuendĆa š¦š· makes his 100th Premier League appearance for Villa.
Ollie Watkins š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ scores his 80th League goal for Villa, only eight players have scored more League goals for the club in Villaās history.
Ollie Watkins š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ contributes his 115th Premier League goal involvement for Villa in 202 appearances.
Victor Lindelƶf šøšŖ secures his tenth win for Villa in twelve appearances for the club.
Boubacar Kamara š«š· makes his 120th appearance for Villa.
Emiliano BuendĆa š¦š· makes his 120th appearance for Villa.
Jadon Sancho š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ secures his tenth win for Villa in fourteen appearances for the club.
Ollie Watkins š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ makes his 30th substitute appearance for Villa and 248th overall for the club.
Lamare Bogarde š³š± makes his 35th appearance under Unai Emery šŖšø
Lucas Digne š«š· makes his 25th Premier League substitute appearance for Villa.
Tool(s) of the Day
A lot of competition for this one, Stuart Attwell's incompetence is always a worthy candidate as is Cucurella's vile approach and attitude but the award must go to Enzo Maresca, not only utterly humiliated by Unai but offering pearls of wisdom such as:
until we conceded, we dominated the game.
or in other words, "we were winning until we conceded the equaliser and were drawing until we conceded the winner".
If that wasn't bad enough there are suggestions that Uncle Enzo also claimed Chelsea deserved to be third and not Villa. A note to Enzo: that argument didn't age well for Pochettino two seasons ago.
But isn't it lovely to be a thorn in the side of the Sky order.
An honourable mention also needs to go to the Newcastle fans claiming they should have recruited Emery rather than Villa, blithely ignoring the fact that they approached him and he rejected them out of hand before agreeing to join Villa. To add to their xD (expected delusion) they go on to claim that their beloved 'Toon' under Eddie Howe have been far more succesful than Villa under Emery. Every family's got one.
And one for the xG warriors, it looks like Villa are going to destroy your fallacy game by game until its worthlessness is undeniable.
Scamming
They don't like it up 'em.
UTV x
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