Chelsea dream lineup vs Aston Villa as Mykhailo Mudryk, Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo all start

Mauricio Pochettino may want to go a bit more attacking on Sunday afternoon as Chelsea welcome Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge. The Blues are without a goal in over 220 minutes of Premier League football, with Nicolas Jackson's strike against Luton Town last month being the last time the side found the back of the net.

Since then, Chelsea have had more than 40 shots in total – but have lacked the end product that has seen them suffer in recent seasons. There is only so much Pochettino can do. The actual system is working, the balance between defence and attack is there, but there has been a lack of composure in the defining offensive areas.

This week, though, Pochettino has had a prolonged period of time to work with his squad, with some clubs – including Sunday's opponents Aston Villa – in European action over the past few days. While he is of course unhappy to not be involved in the continent's biggest competitions, Pochettino has acknowledged the squad need to take advantage of their situation right now.

Speaking to reporters at Cobham on Friday afternoon, Pochettino said: «Yes [no European football is a blessing in disguise] because I think it's about us recovering players from injury. The circumstance is good to have time to work.

»It was a very good week, we worked really hard with the players we have and then time to recover players. If you are involved in European competition, it is difficult. For the fans, of course it is difficult because normally Chelsea are involved in the competition but at the moment we are not. We need to take advantage of the situation."

Pochettino revealed Chelsea could welcome back Armando Broja this weekend from the knee injury that has kept him out since December. However, the Albania