Aston Villa v Chelsea: Key stats and talking points

Aston Villa equalled their club record of 11 wins in a row in all competitions just after Christmas when they came from behind to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge courtesy of two second-half goals by Ollie Watkins.

Villa are now looking to complete a first league double over Chelsea since 1989-90 but their recent laboured performances have given the visitors an opportunity to move within striking distance as the race for Champions League qualification intensifies.

Villa feeling the pressure

These are tense times at Villa Park. What started as a wobble has escalated into a collapse of form. Ponderous, passive and profligate, Aston Villa's recent displays have worrying echoes of their early-season malaise when it took them five league games to score and six to win.

Unai Emery's side are perhaps fortunate their current run of two wins, five goals and nine points from eight matches has not been punished more heavily by the chasing pack in the hunt for a Champions League spot.

Nonetheless, Villa had an eight-point cushion in third place early in the year but could find themselves only three points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea by full-time. There were 12 points between the sides seven games ago.

Another failure to qualify for the Champions League would be both a sporting and financial calamity for the Birmingham club. The subdued atmosphere at Villa Park of late is a reflection, in part, of the anxiety felt by supporters who are acutely aware that key players will be sold, with limited scope to reinvest in the squad, if Villa don't return to Europe's premier club competition.

Morgan Rogers, the scorer of Villa's only goal from open play across their past six league and cup matches, admitted after Friday's dismal defeat to bottom side Wolves that the team were feeling the pressure too. "It does weigh on us but it shouldn't," he said. "We deserve to be here and we should not forget that."

Villa need to swiftly remember how to win as their next four matches could be season-defining, with successive league games against Champions League rivals Chelsea and Manchester United and a two-legged Europa League tie against Lille.

Chelsea with issues to address

Chelsea are enduring their own slump in form, albeit not to the extent of Villa's. They won their first four league fixtures under head coach Liam Rosenior but have since drawn at home to promoted pair Leeds and Burnley, despite leading late on in both games, and then paid for errors and ill-discipline away to Arsenal on Sunday.

Pedro Neto's red card during that match was Chelsea's seventh in the Premier League this season – three more than any other club in the division – and their ninth in all competitions. Rosenior subsequently warned his players that he will not pick those he cannot trust to "stay disciplined".

Sunday's defeat highlighted two other areas the head coach must quickly address if he is to guide Chelsea to Champions League qualification through their league placing. Firstly, the Blues conceded two soft goals from corners against Arsenal and have let in seven overall from such situations in Rosenior's 13 matches in charge.

It also means they have only once beaten a current top-six side this season – Liverpool back in October – and have the worst head-to-head record of those teams, with Aston Villa having the best. With four games still to play against sides currently above them, Chelsea's top-five prospects may rest on whether they can significantly improve their results in those fixtures.