Nicolas Jackson should be licking his lips at the thought of coming up against this Aston Villa defence, because their high line with his movement and pace could spell danger. It would be a massive surprise if the creative threats of Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto can’t put him through on goal at some point.

Jackson averages 1.7 shots on target per 90 minutes this season and as the starting man through the middle of the pitch he can be expected to add another to his tally during this match.

The other Chelsea player to focus on from a shots point of view is Noni Madueke who is really enjoying himself on the right side of the Chelsea attack and will surely like his chances of delivering the goods here.

Madueke currently averages 3.6 shots per 90 over the course of the season so far in the Premier League and with this Villa defence short of pace and vulnerable to wingers who can get in behind, as we saw when Ismaila Sarr scored against them last weekend, Makueke to fire 3 shots away feels perfectly achievable.

This could be a particularly spicy match in the centre of the pitch with some competitive players, and Moises Caicedo could be vulnerable to giving fouls away.

The Ecuador international averages 2 fouls per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season and with the attacking intent that the Villa midfielders bring, the Chelsea midfielder feels like a huge candidate to catch the attention of the referee on at least two occasions.

This one really does feel like a game which will have goals in it. Both defences look vulnerable with a keeper at one end in Robert Sanchez prone to mistakes while the high line that Villa employ really leaving them exposed to quality sides.

Tottenham scored 4 on this Villa team recently and Chelsea play in a similar manner and formation, but you would think that the likes of Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Jhon Duran and others will fancy their chances against a Chelsea side who haven’t kept a clean sheet in 7 games. The over 2.5 goals pick looks good here.

As mentioned, Nicolas Jackson has the pace to burn Villa in behind and the players behind him in the formation to find him.

Jackson has 7 goals in 12 matches in the Premier League this season and is outperforming his xG of 6.64 so if he gets a chance we can expect him to take it.

Against a Villa defence which leaks more goals than it should this feels like a great chance for the Senegal international to notch.

It would make sense that in a competitive game that the referee Stuart Attwell is a busy man. He is averaging 4 yellow cards per game in the Premier League this season and Wesley Fofana could be a name that he takes here.

Fofana already has 6 yellow cards in the Premier League and now he’ll be assigned the task of keeping Ollie Watkins quiet. Fofana will probably play the right side of the two centre-backs so he’ll have Morgan Rogers in his vicinity too. Watkins wins 1.34 fouls per 90 and Rogers 1.28 so there should be enough chance for Fofana to catch the Attwell eye.