Five Chelsea stars pictured in training ahead of Aston Villa clash – key defender & midfielder missing

Chelsea are continuing their preparations ahead of facing Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side have only won one game this season, a 3-0 win over newly-promoted Luton Town last month, and will be hoping to collect all three points this weekend.

They had to settle for a goalless draw against AFC Bournemouth last time out despite a flurry of chances and Robert Sanchez, ultimately, keeping Chelsea in the game and ensuring defeat was inflicted on the Blues.

Chelsea are languishing down in 14th and Pochettino is keen for his team to get on the winning trail to climb back up the table.

As the Blues worked towards the fixture, Pochettino was without Benoit Badiashile. The central defender was working his way back from a hamstring injury however, as reported by Nathan Gissing, the 22-year-old suffered a ‘minor setback’ last week and has returned to individual training.

Badiashile is hoping to resume team training after the Aston Villa clash prior to their Carabao Cup third round tie against Brighton & Hove Albion next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Moises Caicedo missed the Bournemouth draw after a minor knee injury sustained on international duty with Ecuador. Pochettino confirmed he would be assessed, but the £115 million signing is yet to be pictured out on the grass at their Cobham training base this week.

“Caicedo arrived back from international duty with a knock in his knee,” said Pochettino. “We need to assess him in the next few days but he wasn’t available for today (against Bournemouth), that’s why he’s not here with the team.”

Five players who were involved in training on Thursday were Robert Sanchez, Ian Maatsen, Noni Madueke, Mykhailo Mudryk and Raheem Sterling.

Sunday in our sights. 👊 pic.twitter.com/7c82XP9yMK

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 21, 2023

📸 😁 pic.twitter.com/JuphUglf5s

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 21, 2023