Cole Palmer vs Morgan Rogers: Key battle that will decide Chelsea-Aston Villa as England watch on | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel should be keeping a keen eye on Stamford Bridge showdown between No10 hopefuls with World Cup looming

Chelsea welcome Aston Villa in a game that pits two of his No10 hopefuls against each other. Cole Palmer versus Morgan Rogers promises to be a fascinating narrative sewn into this battle between fourth and third in the Premier League going into Christmas.

Jude Bellingham, Eberechi Eze, Phil Foden and Morgan Gibbs-White are all vying for game time in the same playmaker position as Palmer and Rogers, and Tuchel is all too aware that he cannot pick them all.

Chelsea have barely been able to use their star player, Palmer, this season because of a persistent groin injury that has disrupted his campaign so much that if - as his manager Enzo Maresca has said he now can - Palmer lasts the full 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge, it will be his first full game for club or country in more than three months.

In his absence, Chelsea have ticked along nicely and are eyeing another season of qualifying for the Champions League.

Villa, meanwhile, are the Premier League’s most in-form side by a long way and will equal their club-record longest winning streak of 11 matches across all competitions, set in March 1914, if they are victorious again on Saturday.

Rogers has been fit all season and thus had a greater impact than Palmer, with four goals in his last two games meaning he is bang in form.

He has 12 goal contributions in all competitions. But asked whether he would swap Palmer for Rogers, Maresca predictably observed his usual loyalty to the player he regularly describes as Chelsea’s best.

Asked whether he would swap Palmer for Rogers, Maresca showed loyalty to the player he regularly describes as Chelsea’s best

“No,” he said. And why? “Because I love Cole, and Cole is my player. I think he is a good option for Thomas [Tuchel], but at the end it is Thomas's decision.”

Palmer has played only once - and for just 65 minutes against Andorra - under Tuchel so far because of ill-timed injuries, and that is known to have frustrated the England manager greatly.

Villa and Chelsea are two of the country’s better teams, yet Maresca accepted that Saturday’s evenly-poised contest will be won by whomever of Palmer or Rogers hits greater heights as much as by any other determining factor.

“They are two fantastic players,” Maresca said. “For sure they are going to be important during the game.

“But I think both players need another 10 around them to support them and to help them to do the right things. For sure it's about Morgan, about Cole - but it's about the team.”

The next step for Maresca’s team is to develop the level of consistency of performance and results that Unai Emery and Aston Villa can currently lay claim to - no easy thing.

Having the attacking invention of Rogers, a Tuchel favourite, has played a major role in Villa’s ability to build up a head of steam. Before his injury, Palmer fulfilled the same role for Chelsea.

It would be some statement if he could make himself Saturday’s match-winner and extend the Blues’ unbeaten run to four matches.