Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has acknowledged that team spirit has taken a hit following a poor run of form since the Christmas period.

The Blues travel to Aston Villa on Saturday, having won just three of their last 11 matches in all competitions, with one of those victories coming against League Two side Morecambe in the FA Cup third round.

Maresca said: "The team spirit in this moment has to be upset. We have to be upset because we are not happy with the results, we are all aware we are in a club where we are not here to survive, but to fight to win titles.

"They are the same players that for 19-20 games were top four, second for the most part of the season. For sure, after this moment, they are going to be better players and better professionals."

That poor run has seen Chelsea slip to sixth in the Premier League table and knocked out of the FA Cup. They trail fourth-placed Manchester City by one point and Maresca insists they are still aiming for a top-four finish.

"We said many times: I think we spent almost the season in top four and with 13 games to go, the target, for sure, is top four. We will try our best to achieve that," he said.

"Knowing the difficult moment we have now, one of the most important reasons why is because of the injury situation. Five or six significant players out.

"I'm here to win games, to bring this club to fight for titles. The problem is when you win games, you look humble and when you don't win games, you look like a lack of ambition. Since day one, my intention is to bring this club where it needs to be."

Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans, meanwhile, believes that his club can still finish in the Champions League qualification spots following their 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool on Wednesday.

Following the draw, Villa are ninth in the Premier League and trail the top four by five points.

"We always have to believe. We have a lot of games left, but we just need to win games now," he said.

"It is just up to us to try and hit the ground running every time and week-in, week-out to try and put a performance in.

:We know we can do better and that we can have better results but I think with the performance like we had tonight [against Liverpool], we can be really pleased.

"The performance was really good. We had a lot of chances where we could score toward the end. The fact we came into the game was really good, very positive. We have to take the point, move on and keep performing."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Aston Villa – Marcus Rashford

While he is yet to score his first goal while on loan at Aston Villa, Rashford has netted four goals in eight home Premier League appearances against Chelsea – doing so for Manchester United in 2016-17 (one goal), 2019-20 (two) and 2022-23 (one).

He has scored seven goals in all competitions this season and was given his first start for Villa in their 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool on Wednesday.

Chelsea – Cole Palmer

Palmer’s last Premier League assist for Chelsea was against Aston Villa in December for Enzo Fernández’s goal. Since then, Palmer has created 33 chances for 12 different teammates without any of them being converted.

Despite a barren run of four games without a goal or assist, Palmer has still scored 14 times in the Premier League and laid on six assists.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Aston Villa come into this game on the back of a 2-2 draw at home to Premier League leaders Liverpool, which was their fourth draw in their last five league matches.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have won just three of their last 11 matches in all competitions, including two out of nine in the league. They are winless in five league games away from Stamford Bridge.

Enzo Maresca's side have scored just two goals in their last five Premier League away matches (D2 L3), having scored nine in their two away games before this run (5-1 vs Southampton, 4-3 vs Spurs). In these last five away games, the Blues have underperformed their expected goals by 4.8 (2 goals, 6.8 xG).

Villa have won just two of their last 11 Premier League home games against Chelsea (D2 L7), beating them 1-0 in March 2014 and 2-1 in May 2021.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Aston Villa – 36.8%

Draw – 24.9%

Chelsea – 38.3%