It is the second time this season that Gerrard has been sidelined by Covid-19.

The 41-year-old was forced to isolate earlier this year during his time as Rangers manager, missing matches against Alashkert and Celtic.

Villa were forced to postpone their game against Burnley last Saturday because of an outbreak of the virus at the club.

Three Premier League games have already been called off on Sunday, with Liverpool's home game against Leeds, Watford's trip to Wolves and Burnley's game against Everton falling foul of the virus.

The match against Chelsea at Villa Park is one of six Premier League games still scheduled to go ahead.

Gerrard spent three years as Rangers manager before moving to Villa on 11 November to succeed Dean Smith who was sacked after a run of five defeats.

Since then Villa have won four out of their six Premier League games, with the two defeats coming against Manchester City and his former club Liverpool.

A statement from the club said: "Aston Villa can confirm head coach Steven Gerrard will be unable to attend our next two Premier League matches with Chelsea and Leeds United as he will be isolating after testing positive for Covid-19."