Aston Villa v Chelsea player ratings

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Chelsea secured a top-four finish despite losing their final Premier League match of the season. Here’s how we rated each Blues player in the 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa.


Edouard Mendy: 6

Worrying for Chelsea that the keeper did not appear for the second half after colliding with a post while trying to keep out Bertrand Traore’s shot for the opening goal.

Reece James: 5

Well short of his best. Villa were able to find space behind him in the first half. He fared slightly better when moved into midfield but a wayward pass almost led to a Villa goal.

Thiago Silva: 7

A poor touch resulted in the corner from which Villa scored the opener, but that was a rare mistake by the veteran centre-back, whose overall performance was solid and composed.

Antonio Rudiger: 7

Also had a good game. Chelsea’s problems came on the other side. Rudiger was dominant and combined well with Ben Chilwell.

Cesar Azpilicueta: 5

A day to forget for the captain, who was given problems on the flank and was sent off late on for lashing out at Jack Grealish. Plus Azpilicueta being offside led to Timo Werner having a goal disallowed.

Jorginho: 5

Also struggled. Was sluggish throughout and gave away a penalty with a silly challenge.

Mateo Kovacic: 5

Lacking sharpness following the return from injury. Short of his best but the game time ahead of the Champions League final is a boost.

Ben Chilwell: 7

Was an attacking threat throughout and scored with a nice half-volley.

Mason Mount: 7

Lively early on, but Villa did well to limit him after that. Still always looked like Chelsea’s best attacking player though.

Christian Pulisic: 6

A peripheral figure for much of the game and missed a great chance to equalise. Atoned somewhat by setting up Chilwell for Chelsea’s goal.

Timo Werner: 6

A standard Werner display: worked hard up front, created chances for others, had a goal disallowed and apart from that offered very little goal threat.

Kepa Arrizabalaga: 6

Mendy’s replacement didn’t have much to do after Anwar El Ghazi’s penalty put Villa 2-0 up early in the second half.

Hakim Ziyech: 6

Neat and tidy after replacing Jorginho on the hour mark but was unable to open up Villa.

Kai Havertz: 6

Came on for Kovacic midway through the second half and offered more of a presence up front.