29 mins: Neto advances threateningly down the right side of Chelsea. He returns the ball and then sends a wonderfully inviting cross towards the far post. Martinez would do well to take the plunge and secure the title.

That’s it too without Goals at Tottenham against Fulham.

Manchester United …0

Everton…0

(current result)

25 minutes: Scenes. Chelsea takes the free kick from around 10 meters. Villa are of course lined up and camped on the goal line. Fernandez touches the ball to Palmer, who fires a shot straight at Martinez. Lavia has a follow-up attempt, which is also blocked. Villa gets away with it!

23 mins: Drama! Palmer overwhelms Tielemans on the edge of the Villa box. He turns and takes a powerful shot that goes into the bottom corner. Martinez saves, and then the referee says it was a back pass from Pau Torres after the ball was parried by the goalkeeper! Free kick for Chelsea near the penalty spot! Literally just outside the six yard box!

21 mins: Sancho threatens again on the left for Chelsea. Lavia with a clever ball behind her. But Villa manages to cover.

18 minutes: It was a lively start at the Bridge, with the caveat that Chelsea showed no interest whatsoever in pressing the ball in the early moments. The Aston Villa defenders just stood there wondering what to do with the ball. I wonder if Maresca told them that? Maybe an opportunity to rest a bit before really getting into the game?

“Luke, kind regards from the Free State of California,” writes Mary Waltz. “If you look at Everton’s games in December, this may be Everton’s only chance to pick up points. That says a lot about both teams. Sigh.”

I’m still laughing at Ruben Amorim’s thoughts on what to expect from Everton, which he expressed on Friday:

“It will be a different game, with a lot of battles, a lot of long balls, second balls… a first-class coach who understands the league.”

Oh yeah, a good coach but terrible football, you know? I like the cut of Amorim’s boom.

15 minutes: Villa rush forward again and Watkins is one on one! Albeit from an angle. His teammate Rogers stands in the middle and prays for a pass. But Watkins shoots and Sanchez saves.

13 min. Apart from the amusing emailsFootball takes place at Stamford Bridge. Villa break through and Tielemans sniffs out of the penalty area. But Chelsea closes it down, then breaks off at speed and almost manages to give themselves a lead at the other end.

This is the Sunday football type of emailby Richard Hirst, who I can really support:

“There is a lot of discussion about what it would be like for Spursy if they lost today. Well, there are two teams involved and the Fulham equivalent of Spursy is Fulhamish. Given we lost 4-1 at home to a team in the relegation zone last weekend, it would be very Fulhamish to win today. But if the Fulhamish/Spursy thing is for Fulham to win then that is the expectation. So the real Fulhamish/Spursy thing would be Spurs winning. Clear so far?

“And now that I have jinxed Spurs by saying they will win, Fulham will win. ”

The Villa players protested that Philogene had been fouled by Cucurella, but their protests were completely futile.

Goalless at Old Trafford and Tottenham Stadium.

Cucurella does well to knock the ball away from Philogene while Chelsea’s players are in the build-up from a set-piece. He exchanges passes with Sancho and plays a low ball into the middle that hits a defender. Jackson sinks the ball cleanly at the near post. And that’s 1-0.

Goal! 7th minute: Chelsea – Aston Villa (Jackson) 1-0

6 minutes: Morgan Rogers tries to make a breakthrough in the middle of the field and appears to be fouled from behind. But the referee allows play to continue and Chelsea can clear.

Bill Leslie and Alan Smith are back with us via communications. Sancho comes in from the Chelsea left and connects with Palmer. Overall, a quiet start so far.

This is interesting: Chelsea shows no interest in pressing from the front early on.

David Jones was named lead commentator. That’s big.

Sky Sports is having some audio issues Therefore, the moderator and the experts are commenting at the moment.

I had some issues with the team news and said Bailey would start for Villa, which was wrong. Excuse me.

Kick-off of the first half!

Maresca has made 10 changes since the midweek win in Heidenheim. Jadon Sancho is the player who keeps his place in the lineup.

How big are three points against Aston Villa?Enzo Maresca is asked. (I live for this stuff.)

“It’s a big game,” says Maresca. “It will be a tough game, just like the others. We don’t focus on the top four. We just concentrate on the game.”

Is this a change of formation? “That could be it. We’ll see.”

Great, thanks for that. And why does he start with Jadon Sancho?

“Jadon Sancho is doing well… he was very good in the Conference League. I’ve said it many times. He is very important for us and hopefully he can help us.”

Second comment to this: “What a team. I love football, hehe.”

Aren’t we all compatible?

The live game Chelsea vs Aston Villa is on a well-known sports channel. I have to say that after Tottenham v Roma on Thursday, the most entertaining game I’ve seen in ages, I’d rather watch Spurs v Fulham.

But as a wise man once said, “It is what it is.”

I could have sworn Micah Richards just called fellow pundit Daniel Sturridge “Dave.” Things got a little heated for a while in the studio there.

Teams Tottenham vs Fulham

Teams Manchester United vs Everton

Teams Chelsea vs Aston Villa

preamble