Mauricio Pochettino has reminded his team to respect themselves as they prepare for another tough game against Aston Villa on Saturday. (More Football News)
After being knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City last Saturday, the Blues were thrashed 5-0 by title-chasing Arsenal in midweek for their 11th defeat of the season.
Chelsea still have an outside chance of finishing in the top seven as they sit just three points behind Newcastle United with two games in hand.
Asked if his side are capable of putting the disappointment of their last two results behind them, Pochettino said: “Lack of belief, in the circumstances, sometimes happens.
“We tried to realise how we need to behave when the game is tough when the demands are so high. We need to try and be more strong and to trust in the way that we play, in our philosophy, in the way we prepare the games.
“We need to be positive, and we need to be strong and believe tomorrow we can have a good game, good attitude, good approach. We are going to compete again with another team, fighting for the top. We need to think we are Chelsea and respect ourselves."
Aston Villa moved six points clear of Tottenham in fourth place with their 3-1 comeback victory over Bournemouth last Sunday.
Unai Emery, who signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2027 earlier this week, is confident that his side can stay in the fight for a Champions League place.
“When I arrived here, our expectation was progressively getting better, but there is still a lot of work to do," Emery said.
“We have amazing motivation in front of us [to qualify for Champions League], but realistic as well because we deserve to be contenders now.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Chelsea – Raheem Sterling
Sterling is looking to score his first goal at Villa Park, having played there five times without finding the back of the net. Only at Old Trafford (10) and the King Power Stadium (7) has he played more Premier League games without scoring.
Villa – Leon Bailey
Leon Bailey has been directly involved in 26 goals in all competitions for Aston Villa this season (14 goals, 12 assists), with the win over Bournemouth last Sunday the fourth time this campaign that he has scored and assisted in a game in 2023-24.
MATCH PREDICTION: ASTON VILLA WIN
Chelsea have lost their last two league games against Villa, as many as they had in their previous 16 (W13 D1). They have not lost more consecutively against the Villans since a run of four between 1978 and 1984.
However, the Blues have won seven of their last nine Premier League away games against Villa (L2), more than they had in their first 19 visits to Villa Park in the competition (W6 D7 L6).
Meanwhile, Villa are looking to complete their first league double over Chelsea since 1989-90, when the Blues were a newly promoted side, and the Villans eventually finished the season in second place.
Chelsea have won just one of their last eight Premier League games outside of London (D2 L5), with that victory coming at Luton Town in December (D2 L1 since then).
Villa have won 20 Premier League games this season. Only in 1992-93 (21) have they won more in a single campaign in the competition, while they last won more in a 38-game top-flight season in 1989-90 (21).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Villa – 39.8%
Draw – 28.4%
Chelsea – 31.8%
