Graham Potter has made three changes to his Chelsea team to face Aston Villa in Birmingham.

Aston Villa vs Chelsea line ups

The first change was forced on him with Reece James confirmed to be out for around eight weeks with the knee injury he suffered in the midweek win at AC Milan in the Champions League. comes in, with and across the middle and Ben Chilwell on the left. Raheem Sterling was at right wing-back.

It looks likely to be a back three, with Trevoh Chalobah and continuing, the second of those as captain, while Marc Cucurella comes into the side in place of . Kepa Arrizabalaga continues as goalkeeper.

is the third player to be introduced, joining in attack.

Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard has made two changes to his team following their draw with Nottingham Forest on Monday. They both come in attack, as Leon Bailey and Danny Ings replace Emiliano Buendia and Philippe Coutinho alongside Ollie Watkins in the front three.

Chelsea: Kepa, Chalobah, Thiago Silva (c), Cucurella, Sterling, Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic, Chilwell, Mount, Havertz, Aubameyang

Substitutes: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Koulibaly, Chukwuemeka, Jorginho, Zakaria, Gallagher, Pulisic, Broja

Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Mings, Konsa, Young, Ramsey, Luiz, McGinn (c), Bailey, Ings, Watkins

Substitutes: Olsen, Chambers, Bednarek, Bogarde, Dendoncker, Nakamba, Sanson, Buendia, Coutinho

Referee: Robert Jones

Aston Villa vs Chelsea injury updates

reported in his press conference on Friday that Reece James was seeing a specialist to check on discomfort in the player's knee following the injury he suffered during the AC Milan game midweek.

On Saturday it was announced James will undergo a rehabilitation programme and is expected to be out for eight weeks.

is also being assessed by a consultant following a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury. Wesley Fofana remains out with a knee problem and is unlikely to play before the World Cup.

Aston Villa vs Chelsea press conference

Potter reflected on the weeks ahead when he spoke on Friday. ‘We have quite a few games in a short space of time now, and we’ve had to use the group as wisely as possible, which we’ve done.

‘I’ve been really impressed with the guys. Their attitude has been fantastic. There are a few lads who still haven’t had gametime, but that’s not necessarily because they’ve done anything wrong, you can only field 11. The focus is to go game to game and keep progressing. We’re not at the maximum in terms of where the team is at. There’s more to come.’

Aston Villa vs Chelsea commentary

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