Ruben Loftus-Cheek looks the part. He is a big lad, strong and able to hold players off. He spots the movement of Diego Costa but his pass comes just a fraction too late, meaning the striker is offside instead of through on goal.

A nice period of play from Chelsea, including a peach of a cross-field pass from Cesc Fabregas, almost brings a shooting chance for Willian, but a Villa man dives in to nick the ball off his toes.

Soon after, Diego Costa drives to the byline and wins a corner, which Brad Guzan palms away with a host of Chelsea players waiting to pounce.

Good chance for Villa as Alan Hutton gets past the stumbling Baba Rahman and draws a low save from Asmir Begovic before slamming a follow-up shot past the far post. He could have done better with the first shot, he should have done better with the second.

Tell you what, it is very quiet at Stamford Bridge. This is a nervous crowd in need of a side to lift them.

You can see why Villa are struggling. They have given the ball away twice in dangerous areas already. It is practically laying down the red carpet for Chelsea.

Oh, Ruben Loftus-Cheek nearly gets his first start of the season off to a cracking start when his effort from inside the box - set up by Pedro - deflects wide. It brings a corner that Villa do well to head clear.

Sam Payne: Great to see Mourinho giving Loftus-Cheek a game. Team needs a lift and he might give us that, like Kane did at Spurs.

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Now Grealish has a run, which is halted by a Ramires foul. The resulting free-kick into the box is headed away but only as far as Carlos Gil who slices a rising shot a few yards wide of the Chelsea goal.

Here is Loftus-Cheek, picking up the ball from a sloppy Villa pass in midfield and driving forward, but his pass to Diego Costa is too soft and easily intercepted by Micah Richards, ending a promising attack.

Garth Crooks
Former Spurs striker on Final Score

"I am a real fan of Jose Mourinho but when things don’t go his way he is almost like a child stamping his feet. It exasperates me. 

"Does any of Chelsea's bad start to the season actually have anything to do with you, Jose? Is it possible that you started pre-season so late and finished last season so early that actually, you weren't properly prepared for this campaign at all?

"Because if you get your pre-season wrong then your whole season is in trouble. And Chelsea’s season is in trouble."

Looks like Ruben Loftus-Cheek is sat in behind Diego Costa, with Cesc Fabregas and Ramires the two deeper central midfielders. Nice to see two young English players in him and Villa's Jack Grealish playing. It is an increasing rarity these days.

Image source, Getty Images

Villa get the game under way...

John Motson
BBC Match of the Day commentator

Image source, Getty Images

The teams are in the tunnel and Stamford Bridge is filling up quickly. We'll have a game of football on our hands very shortly.

Former Aston Villa striker Chris Sutton, who cleaned Sherwood's boots when he was an apprentice at Norwich, has been considering the Villa manager's position in his Match of the Day analysis. 

"There is a lot of talk that Tim Sherwood is close to being sacked by Aston Villa but I cannot understand why they would even contemplate getting rid of him at this stage of the season," said Sutton. "If he does become the next Premier League manager to lose his job, it would not just be unfair, it would be absolutely ridiculous. 

"I get why the club's owner Randy Lerner might be getting twitchy because of the amount of money at stake if they go down, but the logical thing to do is to give Sherwood more time because he is an intelligent man who has already shown he can improve players - which is exactly what Villa need now." 

Read more of Sutton's analysis here.

Danny Murphy
Ex-Liverpool midfielder on BBC Radio 5 live

"Don't look into the benching of Hazard too much. He is Chelsea's best player and he obviously just needs a rest. The Blues should still have more than enough to beat Villa."

Image source, .

The BBC Sport Predictor game pits fans of Premier League clubs against each other - and both Chelsea (15th) and Aston Villa (16th) supporters are languishing in the bottom half of our table as things stand.

Help your club move up the league by predicting the result of this match - and the rest of the weekend's fixtures - right here.

Image source, Getty Images

But hang on, there are two teams playing in this game today. Aston Villa deserve some love. And boy do they need it right now.

Chelsea are having a rough run, but Villa's is worse. They started with an opening day win at Bournemouth but since then have picked up just one point from seven games to leave them 18th in the table.

If Jose has pressure on his shoulders right now, Tim Sherwood is Atlas.

Image source, BBC Sport

Plenty of changes for Chelsea, who have Diego Costa back up front in place of Radamel Falcao. Midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek is handed his first league start of the season. Eden Hazard drops to the bench, as does Oscar, allowing Pedro to come in. Baba is at full-back due to an injury to Branislav Ivanovic.

Image source, BBC Sport

Four changes for Aston Villa, Kieran Richardson is in for Jose Angel Crespo in defence, Jack Grealish, Jordan Ayew and Carlos Gil come in to midfield, with Jordan Veretout, Jordan Amavi and Scott Sinclair dropping out.