Every word Enzo Maresca said on Chelsea vs Aston Villa, Man City form, Nicolas Jackson message

Enzo Maresca has spoken to the media ahead of Chelsea's Premier League clash with Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

The Blues are looking to continue their fine start to the season at Stamford Bridge but face a tough test in Unai Emery's Villa team. Speaking moments after Chelsea's win against FC Heidenheim on Thursday evening, Maresca previewed the Premier League meeting.

Below is the full transcript from the Italian...

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Do you see Aston Villa as a top four rival?

"Absolutely. I see Aston Villa as a very good team. In the last two or three years, especially with their new manager [Unai Emery] and sporting director. Last night, they played Juventus; they're playing Champions League already. For sure, they are there and want to be there."

Is there more than one Champions League spot to fight for now?

"I still think City will be there. Arsenal, for sure, will be there. Liverpool will be there. There are not many spots. We are going to try and compete every game and then we will see where we are."

Are you exceeding expectations or are you perfectly on track to where you wanted to be this early on?

"I said many times; for sure, in terms of results and the way we want to play, we are above my expectation, no doubt. But the good thing is we are there and we will try and be there as much as we can. We can help things and improve players."

Pep Guardiola had scratches on his face this week. He is obsessed with football. I imagine you're the same, obsessed. How do you handle playing all these games yourself?

"You have to adapt a little bit. In December, there are nine games and between one game and the other one, it is not a long time. We are going to spend more time at the training ground that we already spend a long time. Hopefully we can in the end see the players improving, enjoying and winning games.

"In the end, the nice part for me as a manager is for sure, you spend time, but the nice part is you see players enjoy, winning games and they are happy. It is like recovery energy - when you win, you don't feel too tired and the problem is when you don't win."

Do you have an advantage over Aston Villa because you can rotate players in Europe?

"It depends. You can also say they play yesterday [Wednesday] and we play tonight [Thursday]. We arrive [home] very late and it is already Friday. For sure, we change players but hopefully we can do this all season because imagine if we didn't have the chance to change players.

"You arrive late, it's not easy and especially the strange thing, sometimes you play tomorrow on Friday and then play Thursday and on Sunday. Southampton, they don't play any European competition. This is not something normal. We have two days after Sunday's game and they have almost a week, six days - this is something not normal. But we are going to try and prepare the game in the best way and try to win."

Nicolas Jackson, his numbers have improved so much from last season. What do you put that down to?

"Many things he can improve, for sure. He can work better on the ball. Off the ball, he is working a lot and he is helping us a lot. On the ball, for sure. Like tonight, when you face teams going man-to-man, the most important player is the goalkeeper because he is free and the No.9, you can try and contact with him and you can try to attack.

"Tonight, Marc Guiu, 17 or 18, he did quite well. So Nico when we face teams that are aggressive and man-to-man, he is doing what we need. Probably in that moment he has to improve.

"Also, he already scored goals but I think if he had more chances, he would score more goals. But we are very happy and we are not complaining about his numbers."