Chelseavs.Aston Villa

Although Maresca has constantly insisted that he does not have separate teams for the Premier League and cup competitions, the progress made in the Premier League has generally led to minimal changes being made.

Five players have started every top-flight fixture, two others have missed just one game and nine players in total have started at least nine matches.

However, Chelsea will play nine fixtures throughout the final month of 2024, seven of them coming in the Premier League and two in the Conference League, one of which is away to Astana of Kazakhstan.

Between December 1 and December 8, Chelsea face fixtures with Aston Villa, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur, while meetings with Everton, Fulham and Ipswich Town will come between December 22 and December 30.

"They need to be ready"

On Thursday night, Chelsea recorded a 2-0 victory over Heidenheim in the Conference League after Maresca had opted to make 10 alterations.

The Italian was left impressed with the performance against Bundesliga opposition, suggesting after the game that many of the players who featured in that fixture will be called upon more regularly in the Premier League.

He said, as quoted by football.london: "Both (Filip Jorgensen and Christopher Nkunku) did very well. They did fantastic. I think all of them. Jadon Sancho did a very good game. Axel [Disasi] and Benoit [Badiashile], Cesare [Casadei] did very well. It is important they are ready when they get the chance.

"Filip did a very good game, Christo the same. We have a game on Sunday and then on Wednesday. We have nine or 10 games in December, so it is more or less a game every two or three days.

"They are going to get chances so they need to be ready."

Has anyone played themselves into Sunday's team?

The star performer from Thursday night was Jadon Sancho, who contributed assists for the goals that were netted by Christopher Nkunku and Mykhaylo Mudryk.

However, with Sancho completing 90 minutes for the first time since October 6, it would come as a surprise if he retained his place on the right flank for the showdown with Aston Villa.

Whether Benoit Badiashile keeps his spot in defence will be dependent on the fitness of Malo Gusto. If the right-back is available, Badiashile could miss out with Wesley Fofana returning to the middle of the backline.