Manager Andre Villas-Boas must decide whether to recall the Brazilian following his one-match ban or stick with his midfield of Frank Lampard, Raul Meireles and Oriol Romeu.
Defenders John Terry and Jose Bosingwa have shaken off knocks picked up in the Boxing Day draw against Fulham but Branislav Ivanovic and John Obi Mikel (both hamstring) remain out along with Michael Essien (knee).
Gary Cahill's move to Chelsea from Bolton is not a foregone conclusion after Villas-Boas revealed the parties were "miles apart" in their negotiations.
Cahill appeared set to become Blues boss Villas-Boas' first January signing after the club agreed a fee with Bolton, believed to be in the region of ?7million.
But the 26-year-old's transfer hangs in the balance, with one stumbling block understood to be the player's salary, and Villas-Boas warned Chelsea would turn to other targets if an agreement could not be reached.
"We're still miles apart regarding agreement with the player," he said.
"We will continue to monitor this situation as we continue to monitor the other targets for this position."
Villas-Boas would not go into details about the impasse with Cahill or whether Chelsea had made a take-it-or-leave-it offer - but he was nevertheless hopeful of a positive outcome.
"I think we can sort it out - it should be no problem," he said.
"It's in my chief executive's hands at the moment. It's an ongoing conversation.
"We'll have to wait for the best outcome. The best outcome for us is for the player to join us."
Villa hope to have record signing Darren Bent available after a three-game absence with a thigh problem.
Bent will be included in the squad if he comes through a training session unscathed but fellow striker Emile Heskey is ruled out with an Achilles problem.
Right-back Alan Hutton returns after serving a one-game ban for his sending-off against Arsenal but faces a fight for his spot after Carlos Cuellar's recent impressive form.
Boss Alex McLeish has warned his Aston Villa players to beware of a Chelsea backlash.
Villas-Boas conceded Chelsea's hopes of challenging the two Manchester clubs - they trail them by 11 points - were remote after the 1-1 Boxing Day draw with Fulham at Stamford Bridge.
McLeish knows that will have hurt the Blues, but he has challenged his side to repeat their performances against Arsenal and Stoke.
The Scot also masterminded a single goal win over Chelsea when Birmingham boss at St Andrew's last season.
McLeish said: "It's a hard away game. Chelsea don't lose too many at their place.
"But they are starting to lose a bit of ground in the league as opposed to Manchester United and Manchester City.
"That will have hurt the Chelsea players and Villas-Boas and they will try to take that out on Villa to make sure they are still in the hunt.
"But we have got to have something to say about that."
Source: PA
Source: PA