Tammy Abraham’s sixth minute goal has given Aston Villa a 1-0 half-time lead over the Blues at Villa Park.
Town boss Paul Lambert made three changes on his return to the club he managed between 2012 and 2015 with Bartosz Bialkowski, Myles Kenlock and Flynn Downes all starting.
Bialkowski returned in goal for Dean Gerken, who dropped to the bench, while Kenlock came in for Callum Elder at left-back with the Australian also among the subs.
At the centre of the defence James Collins, facing his old club, was at centre-half alongside Luke Chambers. Downes took his place in a three-man midfield with Cole Skuse and Trevoh Chalobah.
Will Keane started as the central striker with Alan Judge on the left and Freddie Sears on the right with Collin Quaner also moving to the bench.
Villa made two changes with Glenn Whelan and Anwar El Ghazi coming into the team for Birkir Bjarnason, who was missing from the 18, and Yannick Bolasie, whose loan from Everton has been cut short, while Mile Jedinak was back on the bench after injury. Ex-Blues midfielder Conor Hourihane started.
The home side dominated possession in the early stages with Town unable to get out of their own half. On four, John McGinn blazed over with a shot from just outside the area.
But two minutes later, Villa took the lead. Hourihane whipped a low freekick - conceded after Chalobah had sent El Ghazi tumbling - in from the left, Bialkowski hesitated on his line and Abraham got ahead of the Blues’ defenders to volley his 18th goal of the season into the roof of the net from four yards out.
Villa immediately began looking for a second with the Blues repeatedly getting themselves into difficulties when trying to play out from the back.
However, on 10, Keane caught James Chester in possession midway inside the Villa half and brought the ball forward before eventually finding Judge, but the Irishman’s low shot lacked power and Lovre Kalinic in the Villa goal was able to claim comfortably.
Town began to see more of the ball but on 14 Kenlock surrendered possession to McGinn, pulled the Scotland international back and was shown the afternoon’s first yellow card.
The Blues continued to see a lot of the ball but mainly in unthreatening areas while still looking very shaky and inviting trouble when trying to pass it out from their own box.
On 22 Chalobah was halted in his tracks by Chester has he burst into the area with Town starting to make some headway.
Five minutes later, El Ghazi was yellow-carded for a late challenge on Collins after the Welshman had ended a Villa break on the edge of the Blues box.
The home side began to take control again and just after the half-hour mark they had the ball in the net for a second time, however, with the linesman’s flag having been raised.
McGinn had got away from Downes on the right and hit a low shot from the edge of the box which Bialkowski did well to bat away from goal to his left. Albert Adomah, who scored twice in last year’s corresponding fixture, reached it first and slammed into the net but having strayed offside.
The Blues were again finding themselves under pressure and on 33 Alan Hutton crossed from the right. McGinn’s first effort was blocked, then his second scuffed through to Bialkowski.
Two minutes later Hourihane shot from distance and Bialkowski scampered away to his left to claim at the second attempt ahead of Adomah.
Abraham will feel he should have scored his second of the afternoon in the 36th minute when he was found in space on the left of the box by Adomah. With time to pick his spot, the on-loan Chelsea man struck his effort too close to Bialkowski, who palmed away to his left.
Town successfully defended a freekick taken from the same position as Villa’s earlier goal on 38 and broke quickly, Chalobah finding Sears on the right. The Blues’ on-loan Chelsea youngster eventually hit a shot from the edge of the box but was unable to get any power on it and the effort was blocked.
Two minutes later, McGinn hit a low strike from distance which Bialkowski was unable to hold on to but Collins was there first to stab behind. On 42 Hourihane hit a low 20-yard freekick through the wall which Bialkowski was able to claim with ease.
In the final scheduled minute before the break Keane again won the ball after some Villa hesitancy but was eventually crowded out, however, the ball was cleared straight to Chalobah, who hit a low shot which failed to trouble Kalinic.
Town were probably fortunate to be just the single goal down with the half having largely been one-way traffic with Villa moving the ball around slickly and having a number of opportunities to increase their lead.
The Blues had started to see more of the ball midway through the half but rarely in dangerous areas and Kalinic in the Villa goal had had a comfortable first 45 minutes, even if his backline had shown an occasional tendency to gift the ball in dangerous areas, something Town might well have profited from.
Lambert’s men will have to show much more in the second half if they’re to avoid a sixth successive Championship defeat.
Aston Villa: Kalinic, Taylor, Chester, Whelan, McGinn, Hourihane, Abraham, Hutton, El Ghazi, Elphick, Adomah. Subs: Steer, Jedinak, Davis, Kodjia, Elmohamady, Hause, O’Hare.
Town: Bialkowski, Pennington, Chambers, Collins, Kenlock, Chalobah, Skuse, Downes, Judge, Sears, Keane. Subs: Gerken, Jackson, Nolan, Bishop, Nsiala, Elder, Quaner. Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire).