Aston Villa 1-4 Chelsea - the fans' verdict — and more

We asked for your thoughts after Wednesday's Premier League game between Aston Villa and Chelsea.

Here are some of your comments:

Villa fans

Peter: Villa are in free fall. This is a worrying slide in form and looking like a top 5 finish is going to evade them. Injuries to key players have hurt us but Emery's stubbornness to change and stick with with out of form players is not helping.

Ian: Its been a good season up untill the last few games, there still in a champions league position.The question for Villa is can they pull together & bounce back ?

Mike: Another woeful performance full of misplaced passes and disjointed build up play. Really frustrating to see how easily we let them in behind our back four. For the third game running I felt the team we finished with should have been the team we started with. Emery really needs to fix this before our season fizzles out.

Kirk: So bored of watching Villa pass it around the defence, As a Villa fan I switched at half time to watch Newcastle's game, Wow what a difference an attack minded approach can give a team. Safe to say I didn't return for the 2nd half. Looks to me like Emery wants out.

Phillip: I don't think it was a bad Villa performance- we were on the wrong side of some tight decisions and were beaten by the better team on the night.

Rob: We've finally run out of gas - both as a team and as individuals. I think some players have reached their ceiling and need to be moved on so everyone can start fresh and unfortunately, hoping Ollie is going to play himself into form isn't going to happen. For everyone moaning how Arsenal parked the bus last night, that might not be a bad strategy at the moment if we go one-up as we did, especially while we wait for our midfield to return.

Chelsea fans

Ahmed: Traditionally Chelsea are always ahead of Villa unless otherwise the game isn't by their side. Statistically Chelsea always dominates Villa especially a t the Park, villa couldn't hold on after 1 goal up, Chelsea capitalised in the dominance game with one of the best performance in this campaign.

Congratulations to JP for your hat-trick, keep thriving.

Brendan: A better performance all round however still too much passing across the back four and too much involvement of our goalkeeper (s). We very nearly gifted them another goalkeeping error. We need to be more disciplined at the back and also be doing a lot more off the ball to create more forward passing opportunities. A very long way still to go.

Phil: Excellent all round performance after going a goal behind. Not comfortable with Fofana and would prefer to see Sarr play. Best game in a Chelsea shirt from both Pedro and Garnacho. We need to keep this up for the rest of the season

James: Just when I thought form was dipping they go and produce a performance like that! Pedro has proven a very astute signing, and if Chelsea can maintain this level top 4 is realistic.

Keith: A good away win and hopefully we can build on it, Garnacho, Hato and João Pedro excellent, but we've got big problems with our keeper's playing out from the back show's they are not up to it.

Newspapers in Italy claim that Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri would want to bring both Adrien Rabiot and Luka Modric with him to Real Madrid if he were to accept an offer from Florentino Perez in the near future.

Could Allegri take Modric and Rabiot to Real Madrid?

Reports earlier this week claimed that Real Madrid are considering appointing Allegri as their next permanent head coach. The LaLiga giants cut short their agreement with the highly-rated Xabi Alonso and are currently under the interim stewardship of Alvaro Arbeloa, who is unlikely to take on the job on a permanent basis.

According to Tuttosport, Real Madrid and club President Perez have courted Allegri at various stages of the last seven years, dating back to his time with Juventus.

Los Blancos  could reportedly  be inclined to make another offer for the current Milan boss as they look to turn to a more experienced figure in the Carlo Ancelotti mould for their next head coach.

According to Tuttosport’s front page and reports from Calciomercato.com on Thursday morning, Allegri would want to bring both Rabiot and Modric with him if he were to accept an offer from Real Madrid.

MILAN, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 28: Luka Modric of AC Milan during the Serie A match between AC Milan and SSC Napoli at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on September 28, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Rabiot, like he has done at Milan, would serve as a trusted midfield reinforcement, while Modric is someone that Allegri would like to bring on in some sort of dressing room role, potentially as an assistant coach should the 40-year-old former Ballon d’Or winner decide to hang up his boots in the near future.

Summer could bring renewal to Liverpool’s midfield.

Arne Slot has been reliant on the same cast of midfield options for the last two seasons - and it’s clear change is coming. Curtis Jones and Wataru Endo are both out of contract in 2027 and Richard Hughes may well listen to offers.

Then there are contract deals to be sorted out for the other senior midfielders - Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.

The clock is ticking - all three are out of contract in 2028 - and the off-season could see one or more moved on if no new contract is agreed.

We could see the Premier League champions move for a midfielder - and a long-standing target could be revisited.

Liverpool like Andre of Wolves

The Anfield side were heavily linked with a move for Andre before the then-Fluminense midfielder transferred to Wolves in 2024. But in January links re-emerged - suggesting that the soon-to-be-relegated side were prepared to listen to offers.

And Andre’s match-winning performance against Arne Slot’s side on Tuesday night may have been enough to win over any recruiters inside the club who might not have been sold on the idea of signing him.

The 24-year-old inflicted huge damage on Liverpool’s Champions League hopes - striking in the last minute to secure a 2-1 win for the Premier League basement boys. But the 13-cap Brazil international did much more besides in a man-of-the-match display.

Andre passes Liverpool audition

Andre was the best midfielder on show - even up against Liverpool’s star-studded trio of Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai.

Across 90+ minutes he completed 43 of 45 passes attempted - including 14 of 14 in the opposition half. He had a total of 67 touches - carrying the ball 13 times and making four progressive carries.

In the engine room he made nine defensive contributions - including winning three of five attempted tackles, making two interceptions.

The Wolves No7 also made one clearance and blocked one shot in a performance that featured 11 recoveries.

The midfielder went into 10 ground duels - winning seven - and gave away only one foul while drawing two. Into the bargain, Andre was not even dribbled past once.

All stats per Sofascore.

Marseille's disastrous year continues. After being eliminated from the Champions League on the last day of the league stage, suffering a 5-0 loss to rivals PSG, and firing their coach a few days later, Marseille hit a new low by losing to Toulouse on penalties in the French Cup quarter-finals. This ends the club's dream of winning a title for the first time since 2012.