Cole Palmer decision awaits Liam Rosenior as four-month injury wait could end vs Aston Villa

Liam Rosenior could make a few changes to his Chelsea side for the trip to Aston Villa on Wednesday evening with Pedro Neto unavailable due to a one-match suspension

Despite an agonising defeat at Arsenal on Sunday, Liam Rosenior might be tempted to pick a similar Chelsea XI for the Blues' trip to Aston Villa on Wednesday night.

Chelsea were beaten by two goals to one at the Emirates Stadium over the weekend, with Pedro Neto becoming the ninth Blues player to be sent off this season, but their performance level was strong. Rosenior was frustrated with some of his side's defending, which led to the Gunners scoring twice from corners, but the Chelsea head coach liked what he witnessed in between both boxes.

Rosenior's attention will now be on picking his line-up for Chelsea's huge Premier League clash with Aston Villa on Wednesday evening. So, with that being said, football.london takes a look at a few changes Rosenior could make for the Villa Park trip.

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Switches in defence?

Despite a below-par performance in north London, goalkeeper Robert Sanchez is set to keep his place in the side. Sanchez has been much better for Chelsea this season but his performance at the Emirates brought back some previous question marks.

There could, however, be a couple of changes in the Chelsea back line. Wesley Fofana served his one-match suspension against Arsenal and is in contention to return to the side. Mamadou Sarr did well on Sunday but could be sacrificed for Fofana's return, while Malo Gusto could return to the side.

The trip to the Midlands looks like it might come too soon for Marc Cucurella, who is closing in on a return from a hamstring injury, so Gusto could be used at left-back. Jorrel Hato started against Arsenal but due to the tight turnaround, there could be some rotation in areas Rosenior feels will not be weakened too much.

Lavia wait over?

It has been almost four months since we last saw Romeo Lavia start a game for Chelsea. The Belgian, though, played some first-team minutes when coming on at the Emirates on Sunday - and, in difficult circumstances, really impressed during his cameo.

Lavia's composure on the ball and his ability to help Chelsea build out from the back is imperative to how Rosenior wants to play his football, not to mention the 22-year-old's out-of-possession work. Andrey Santos has been excellent recently but perhaps Rosenior will take Wednesday as a chance to rest the Brazil international as he looks to build Lavia's fitness up.

Forced change in attack

Rosenior might have wanted to keep his attacking quartet the same for the trip to Villa, but Neto's red card means he will be forced to sit out of this one. Alejandro Garnacho could replace the Portugal international on the left-hand side of Chelsea's attack, with Jamie Gittens still out with a hamstring injury.

Garnacho has not started a lot recently and this would be a great chance for the 21-year-old Argentine to prove himself to Rosenior. Elsewhere, Rosenior confirmed Cole Palmer is fine after a slight injury scare against Arsenal and he is ready to start at Villa Park.

Potential Chelsea XI: Sanchez; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Gusto; Lavia, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez, Garnacho; Joao Pedro

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