Chelsea vs Aston Villa betting

Chelsea take on a rejuvenated Aston Villa side who travel to Stamford Bridge aiming for their third win in eight days. Villa, who had started to fall dangerously close to the bottom of the table, have not lost since they played Manchester City on November 17^th, propelling them up the table and booking a place in the league cup semi final. Chelsea make a return to Premier League football following their trip to Japan for the Club World Cup and their crushing League Cup victory over Leeds in the week. Choose a free bet for this match.

Chelsea’s Recent Results:

Leeds United 1-5 Chelsea (Mata, Ivanovic, Moses, Hazard, Torres)
Corinthians 1-0 Chelsea
Monterrey 1-3 Chelsea (Mata, Torres, Chavez (og))
Sunderland 1-3 Chelsea (Torres (x2), Mata)

Chelsea return to Premier League action hoping to reduce the gap between the two Manchester teams above them. They sit in third, currently 13 points of the top with a game in hand – a situation that had not anticipated back in mid-October after their unbeaten start to the season.

Roberto Di Matteo’s sacking, followed by Rafa Benitez’s appointment and controversy over racism has made for a difficult time for the club, with many fans outraged at the decision to bring in Benitez. Chelsea’s inability to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League has added to their disappointment and are now left with the FA Cup, Capital One Cup and Europa League to realistically contend.

Chelsea will be almost at full strength on Sunday, with John Terry still sidelined and John Obi Mikel serving the final game of his suspension. The return to form of Fernando Torres has been a highlight in recent weeks having scored goals against Leeds, Monterrey, Sunderland (x2) and Nordsjaelland (x2). Torres to continue his goal scoring form is 11/10 with Bet Victor, with a hat-trick best priced at 25/1 with Coral.

Aston Villa’s Recent Results:

Liverpool 1-3 Aston Villa (Benteke (x2), Weimann)
Norwich 1-4 Aston Villa (Holman, Weimann (x2), Benteke)
Aston Villa 0-0 Stoke
QPR 1-1 Aston Villa (Holman)

Aston Villa have had a new lease of life in the Premier League following a run of six games unbeaten in all competitions. They have also returned to goal scoring form, bagging 7 goals in their last two games.

This has largely come down to summer signing Christian Benteke and Andreas Weimann, who have scored three goals apiece over Villa’s recent wins. Benteke has scored five league goals, eight in total, whilst Weimann has three in the league and five in total. You can get 7/2 with Sky Bet for Benteke to score anytime, whilst Weimann is 9/2 with Paddy Power.

Stephen Ireland could return to the side after recovering from illness, but Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ron Vlaar are doubtful having missed the 3-1 win over Liverpool last weekend.

Betting Preview:

Both sides have hit form at a crucial time and go into this match full of confidence. This could be a possible Capital One Cup Final tie and they’ll be excited at the prospect of getting a psychological edge with victory on Sunday.

Chelsea have scored 20 goals this month from a total of 6 games. Aston Villa are also in great scoring form with 7 in their last 2 games. Usually this statistic calls for a 0-0 draw, or at the very least a low scoring game – under 2.5 goals is best priced with Coral at 13/8.

So far this season Chelsea’s midfielders have bossed the Premier League with their skill, both in creativity and finishing. Eden Hazard and Juan Mata have six assists apiece this Premier League season, Hazard with a total of 11 in all competitions and Mata with 13. The best prices for first goal assist can be found with Boylesports, who have both midfielders at 13/2 to set up the opening goal.

Chelsea will be hoping to return to the Premier League with a convincing performance at home. Aston Villa, despite their recent away wins, have lost five games away from home in the league, scoring just seven goals, three of which came last weekend at Anfield. Chelsea could snatch this one by a goal.

Prediction: Chelsea 1-0 Aston Villa – Best priced at 17/2 with Bet Victor.

Article by Jack Teague

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