It’s the time of the season when the stakes are high (to tweak a timely lyric) and none higher than in Chelsea’s trip to Aston Villa on Sunday. The Blues have won three on the spin in the league in this corner of the second city, and a fourth would secure Champions League football ahead of the final next Saturday in Porto.

Other permutations are complicated. Three into two will not go, but at a minimum the Blues need to match or better the result of one of the other hopefuls, Leicester and Liverpool.

Goal alerts will have hearts palpitating around 5.45pm. Every player craves Europe’s elite competition, every supporter savours that continental stardust, and every director welcomes the revenue streams in troubled times.

In contrast, Villa can play without pressure or motivation other than to give a good account for their fans, returning after 15 months away. Dean Smith’s side, locked into 11th place, earned a draw in the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge but have lost 10 of their past 12 top-flight meetings with the Londoners.

They won 2-1 amid the boos at Tottenham on Wednesday, their talisman Jack Grealish starting for the first time since February. Yet only Burnley and Fulham have shown worse form over the past four home matches than Villa’s record of two wins, two defeats, no wins, one goal for and seven against.Thomas Tuchel’s team are currently four points up on last season’s points total, and have halved the gap behind the champions from 33 in 2020/21 to 16 as things stand. He may already know his starting 11 in Portugal but there is still time to impress this weekend, as well as the necessity to perform.

Chelsea team news

Thomas Tuchel and his players cannot afford to focus on next weekend’s showpiece final just yet as there are vital matters still to conclude in the domestic top flight.The last league match prior to a European final is something Chelsea have navigated six times previously, recording three wins and three draws. In among those is 11 May 2013, when the 10-man Blues beat Aston Villa (also reduced to 10) 2-1 at Villa Park thanks to Frank Lampard memorably matching then overtaking Bobby Tambling’s all-time goalscoring record.

All matches will start at 4pm on Sunday and while Tuchel knows his team can ‘decide things’ with a win, he may adapt the risk management of his players in response to scorelines elsewhere. In terms of availability, Andreas Christensen is back in the fold and N’Golo Kante and Kai Havertz could restart training on Saturday (and both should be fine for the final).

It seems likely the France midfielder will sit this one out anyway, especially with Mateo Kovacic restored to fitness. Equally, Thiago Silva won every challenge he entered in midweek, but that was the 36-year-old’s third start in seven days and Christensen will be eager to show his worth.

If results appear to be going the right way, Tammy Abraham and Scotland Euro 2020 squad member Billy Gilmour will be among those pressing for minutes. There could even be a reward for fellow Academy graduates Tino Anjorin, a strong and skilful attacking midfielder, and attacking wing-back Tino Livramento, who have regularly impressed in training.

Villa are likely to defend deeply and counter quickly and directly, as so many sides have against the Blues this season. Especially important will be Tuchel’s selection on the right, where Matt Targett’s speed and Jack Grealish’s magnetism underpin the majority of Villa’s attacks.

Patience and efficiency could be virtues again for Chelsea, who dominated and took the game to Leicester but lost focus towards the close, almost losing two crucial points. Interestingly, the Londoners’ most prolific period in away games has been around the hour mark, which coincides with when Villa have conceded most as hosts.

The Blues will also feel we are due some luck on the VAR front after the media chorus agreed Timo Werner was wrongly denied a penalty when Youri Tielemans kicked his standing leg inside the box on Tuesday.

Grealish regained

Dean Smith’s side are rapid starters at home, one of two clubs to have netted five times without reply in the opening 10 minutes. They will also be urged on by 10,000 followers for the first time in over a year. However, of the 13 occasions they have conceded the first goal at home this season, they went on to lose 10.

The Villans have looked quite open in wide defensive areas in recent games and before Wednesday’s win at Tottenham had shipped three goals twice in eight days. That was unusual in a campaign marked by less leakage than last season. Goalkeeper Emi Martinez and his rearguard had recently matched the club record of 15 clean sheets set in 2009/10. This is also their best points return since then.

Influential right-back Matt Cash is now injured, though, and neither Ezri Konsa nor Ahmed El-Mohamady, who have played there recently, has the same all-rounder profile. Konsa usually adds balance alongside Tyrone Mings but in midweek Kortney Hause made it two left-footers at centre-back.

Jack Grealish’s return in midweek created huge bias in the Villans’ attacking play towards him in an inside-left role. Their usual forwards Ollie Watkins and Bertrand Traore still look fresh and full of running and the team registered their most shots on goal of the campaign.

Like Anwar El Ghazy, Traore has become an intrinsic part of Smith’s frontline, something that eluded him under Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink at Stamford Bridge. Box-to-boxer John McGinn is crucial in building attacks but helps form a four-man attack in possession.

Ross Barkley, meanwhile, has already played his last game in his Villa loan spell as he is ineligible to feature against his parent club.

How to watch Villa-Chelsea

This match will be covered live by Sky Sports in the UK, as will Liverpool-Crystal Palace and Leicester-Tottenham. To find the relevant broadcaster where you are elsewhere, see the Premier League’s broadcast schedule pages

Chelsea TV’s pre- and post-match shows are on the 5th Stand app, Facebook Live, and the official YouTube channel.

The league’s last hurrah

Chelsea have won the final league game of the season in six of the past nine campaigns, with two draws and one loss in that time. 2020/21, though, will be the fifth Chelsea season in succession to reach its conclusion in a domestic or European cup competition rather than the top flight.

In contrast, Villa have not won their last league outing since 2010/11. They are, however, unbeaten in the past four closing-day encounters with the Londoners, the most recent of which was at Stamford Bridge in 2001/02.

Memorable recent last-day league matches for the Blues include the title-clinching 8-0 thrashing of Wigan in 2010, and the 2-1 win at home to Liverpool in 2003 that secured Champions League football ahead of Roman Abramovich’s arrival.

Chase for top-four places

One of Chelsea, Liverpool and Leicester will miss out on entry to the Champions League through a top-four finish. Any win for the Blues will guarantee third place, while only a worse result than both the Reds and the Foxes would spell trouble (Thomas Tuchel’s team can still qualify for the competition as reigning champions by being Man City in next week’s final).

What of the three hopefuls’ opponents? Chelsea’s hosts, Aston Villa, already know they will finish 11th this season – with their highest points tally in the top flight since 2009/10. The Reds entertain a Crystal Palace team jostling for a place no greater than 12th and no lower than 16th. Tottenham, in contrast, have much more to play for at the King Power Stadium.

The Lilywhites are currently seventh, pole position for entering next season’s inaugural Europa Conference League. Beating the Foxes could elevate them into the Europa League, should West Ham slip up, and would avoid the anguish of finishing behind Arsenal for the first time since 2015/16.

Crowd buzzing at the Bridge

Evidence that playing behind doors benefits away clubs was thin on the ground in midweek as crowds returned in reasonable numbers. Chelsea, whose fans were surely the noisiest and most supportive on show, were one of just four host clubs to enjoy success across the 10 matches. The match at Old Trafford was drawn and the spoils went to the visitors in the other five fixtures.

So far, away teams have won 150 of the 370 games played (41 per cent), 137 went the home side’s way (37 per cent) and 83 were drawn (22 were cent).

Only five top-flight clubs have lost more times on their own patch this season than Aston Villa. Their last home league win in eight attempts was against Fulham in April. The Blues are unbeaten on the road in the league under Thomas Tuchel.

For whom the bell tolls

The crowd is back at Villa Park and visits there have often been noisy affairs, especially so on Easter Sunday in March 1999. For the duration of Chelsea’s visit, the then vicar of nearby Aston parish church, the Reverend Keith Sinclair, organised a bell-ringing session in protest at the 11.30am kick-off.

Ironically the bells took a toll on the hosts, who gave the ball away with a generosity more associated with Christmas. Still in with a decent chance of winning the league, the Blues won 3-0 with Tore Andre Flo responsible for two and Bjarne Goldbaek the third.

Premier League fixtures

Sunday (all 4pm)Arsenal v Brighton - Sky SportsAston Villa v Chelsea - Sky SportsFulham v Newcastle - Sky SportsLeeds v West Brom - BT SportLeicester v Tottenham - Sky SportsLiverpool v Crystal Palace - Sky SportsMan City v Everton - Sky SportsSheffield Utd v Burnley - BT SportWest Ham v Southampton - Sky SportsWolves v Man Utd - BT Sport