“Pretty rotten recently” – Chris Sutton makes prediction for Chelsea’s clash with Aston Villa | OneFootball

Chelsea face a tough trip to Aston Villa on Saturday evening and former Blue Chris Sutton has made his prediction for the game.

The Blues turned in arguably their worst performance of the season as they lost 3-0 to Brighton last week, meaning it’s now two wins in their last nine league matches.

Chelsea have dropped to sixth in the table, although they are just a point outside the top four as the race for Champions League qualification intensifies.

Sutton gives Aston Villa vs Chelsea prediction

Chelsea beat Villa 3-0 in the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge earlier in the campaign, but a lot has changed since then.

The Blues currently have a striker crisis with both Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu sidelined, and Jason Cundy has stated he’d like to see Pedro Neto tried down the middle.

Cole Palmer is struggling and hasn’t scored in his last five appearances in all competitions, although Martin Keown believes Nkunku can help the 22-year-old rediscover his best form.

Chelsea head to Villa Park with two wins from there last nine league matches. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The Blues drew 2-2 at Villa Park in the league last season, whilst they also won 3-1 there in the FA Cup, and three points on Saturday evening would be absolutely huge.

Former Chelsea striker Sutton has had say on the game and believes his former side will struggle to go home with the three points.

“Chelsea’s form has been pretty rotten recently and their manager, Enzo Maresca, also needs a strong finish to the season,” he told BBC Sport.

“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.

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.

They were great going forward against Liverpool on Wednesday but just cannot keep clean sheets – although Tyrone Mings’ return to the team from injury is big for them at the back.

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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’s prediction: 2-1.