45+4 min: Tyrone Mings intercepts a Reece James ball from deep with a thumping header as Chelsea try to press home their advantage. The atmosphere at Villa Park seems very subdued.

45+1 min: We’re into six minutes of added time at the end of this first half and Matty Cash appears to be OK. After good work by Reece James, Malo Gusto tries to pick out Nkunku with a curled ball across the edge of the Villa six-yard box but Martinez is quick off his line to smother the ball and snuff out the danger.

44 min: Matty Cash needs treatment after banging his head off the truf after contesting a high ball. He tried to break his fall with his right arm, which may also be hurt.

43 min: A Chelsea corner is cleared towards Reece James on the edge of the Villa penalty area. The dropping ball could scarcely be more inviting but his volley is wild, sending it well wide of the far post.

41 min: “I don’t like it when my prejudices are challenged,” writes Joe Johnson, who may or may or may not be the 1986 world snooker champion. “How has it happened that nouveau riche Chelsea are wearing a stylish, restrained strip (delicate cream, 70s vibe, no sponsor on the front), and Emery, urbane European, is wearing an absurdly showy, distractingly oversized wristwatch?”

39 min: Levi Colwill is all over Watkins like a cheap rug as the Villa striker controls a long ball forward from Tielemans and holds it up. Chelsea get back in numbers and eventually clear their lines.

37 min: Christopher Nkunku tries to curl a shot past Emi Martinez after cutting in from the left. The Villa goalkeeper dives to his left and saves far more theatrically than I suspect was necessary. One for the cameras, as they say.

35 min: Fernandez clips a ball forward for Pedro Neto to chase but he’s beaten to it by Cash, who proceeds to lose his footing. Villa recover, advance upfield and Watkins shoots into the side netting from a tightish angle. It wasn’t a bad effort.

33 min: Maatsen and Ramsey combine well down the left for Villa, the latter playing the ball into the Chelsea penalty area for the former after they’d exchanged passes. Maatsen runs into traffic and a potentially good chance goes to waste.

32 min: Youri Tielemans tries to dink the ball over Chelsea’s defence to send Jacob Ramsey in behind and through on goal. Cole Palmer is on hand to intercept with a header.

29 min: Filip Jorgensen sticks out a foot to make a crucial interception and prevent Ollie Watkins tapping home a cross from Morgan Rogers. Moments later at the other end of the pitch, Cole Palmer fires into the side-netting, his shot taking a deflection off Tyrone Mings.

28 min: “A sharp contrast in styles, this,” writes Peter Oh. “Unai Emery’s sleekly coiffed head of hair and smooth chin, versus Enzo Maresca’s bald pate and salt-and-pepper beard. The Premier League really is the best in the world.”

27 min: Our match referee Michael Oliver makes a great show of performatively stopping his watch as Fernandez goes down rubbing the back of his head after a something-and-nothing challenge.

26 min: Enzo Fernadez curls a shot over the bar from distance and the ball bounces off the roof of the Villa net.

24 min: Marc Cucurella fouls Morgan Rogers in the area between the right side of the Chelsea penalty area and the touchline. The free-kick is curled into the area and Villa are penalised for offside.

23 min: Tyrone Mings goes down injured after being fouled by Pedro Neto near the halfway line, prompting another short break in play. Neto gets a ticking-off from the referee, Michael Oliver, but avoids a booking.

21 min: Watkins has another shot blocked, this time by Cucurella. It’s taken a while but Villa have finally woken up.

20 min: Better from Villa. Ollie Watkins shoots a low diagonal effort towards the near post after being picked out by a good pass from Asensio. Jorgensen stands firm and beats his effort away.

18 min: Chelsea play it out from the back, with Rerece James putting a stop to their tippy-tappy frippery by getting the ball launched towards the corner. Cole Palmer sends a cross into the box, where Fernandez is lurking but the delivery is just a little bit too high for the Argentinian.

16 min: Villa boss Unai Emery is gesticulating furiously on the touchline, clearly unimpressed by his team’s slow start.

13 min: “The Peacock coverage has just started, so I didn’t hear the pre-match music,” writes Joe Pearson. “But I always thought they opened with ‘Crazy Train’, which is a solo cut from Ozzy.” I stand corrected but will counter that I did spend an afternoon in Ozzy’s Buckinghamshire mansion in the company of the great man, which probably makes my error all the more inexcusable.

11 min: Not renowned for the quality of their performances after midweek exertions in Europe and now – it seems – on the domestic front, Villa have started slowly again and are deservedly behind.

GOAL! Aston Villa 0-1 Chelsea (Fernandez 9)

6 min: Trevoh Chalobah is sitting on the deck, feeling his lower back. There’s a break in play so the Chelsea medics can come on to attend to him. It looks like this evening’s jig might be up for him. A correction: it was he and not Caicedo who was felled by Asensio and he must have pulled something in his lower lumbar region as he fell. Tosin Aderabioyo is ready to come on.

4 min: Now Marco Asensio is penalised for a barge on Moises Caicedo, which floors the Chelsea midfielder.

2 min: Chelsea gallop forward with Enzo Fernandez on the ball and plays it towards PEdro Neto, who appears to be playing through the middle. The ball’s put out for a Chelsea throw-in, which Marc Cucurella takes. Fernandez is penalised for a foul and protests his innocence in the classic South American “Who, me?” style. Yes, Enzo. You.

Aston Villa v Chelsea is go …

Not long now: Black Sabbath are blaring over the Tannoy and the Champions League qualification hopes of both teams are very much up in the air. Referee Michael Oliver leads both sets of players out on to the Villa Park pitch, their arrival greeted by the thick end of 43,000 supporters, the vast majority of whom will be hoping for a game every bit as entertaining – but slightly less end-to-end and even – as the match between Villa and Liverpool on Wednesday night. Kick-off will be along very shortly.

Today’s Premier League results

• Everton 2-2 Manchester United

• Arsenal 0-1 West Ham

• Bournemouth 0-1 Wolves

• Fulham 0-2 Crystal palace

• Ipswich Town 1-4 Tottenham Hotspur

• Southampton 0-4 Brighton

• Aston Villa v Chelsea

• View the Premier League table

Today’s match officials

• Referee: Michael Oliver.

• Assistants: Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring.

• Fourth official: Dean Whitestone.

• VAR: Paul Tierney.

• Assistant VAR: Richard West.

Chelsea: Cole Palmer has created more chances than anyone but his team does not have a striker who can finish them, writes Ben McAleer.

Those teams: Enzo Maresca brings in Reece James in place of the injured Noni Madueke in the only change to the Chelsea team that started against Brighton last weekend, which means the visitors will almost certainly line up with three at the back.

Unai Emery makes four changes to the team that started against Liverpool in midweek. After two games out with injury, Ezri Konsa comes into the side in place of Axel Disasi, who is ineligible to play against his parent club, while Marcus Rashford, Lucas Digne and Andres Garcia drop to the substitutes’ bench. Jacob Ramsey, Ian Maasen and Matty Cash come into the side.

Aston Villa v Chelsea line-ups

Early team news

Aston Villa are without their on-loan defender Axel Disasi, who is forbidden from playing against his parent club, which means Lamare Bogarde may have to step into the heart of their defence alongside Tyrone Mings. Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana, Pau Torres and Ross Barkley are all injured, while the participation of both Leon Bailey and Ezri Konsa is also in doubt.

For Chelsea, Nicolas Jackson, Mark Guiu, Noni Madueke, Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana and Omari Kelly are all sidelined with injury, while Mykhaylor Mudryk remains suspended. Benoit Badiashile is expected to undergo a pre-match fitness test but seems unlikely to start. Despite failing to impress since getting his opportunity to play in the first team, Christopher Nkunku seems likely to be given another start in the absence of anyone better.

Premier League: Aston Villa v Chelsea