Aston Villa vs Chelsea betting

Aston Villa: League form: LWDDL

Alex McLeish was never a popular choice when he took over as Aston Villa manager and with Villa just three places from the drop zone it highly unlikely that that opinion has changed. Villa’s main problem this season has been consistency; they’d win the odd game but could never put together a winning streak or unbeaten run. Their recent league form shows this with only two wins recorded in their last ten games. It has been difficult for Villa with star striker Darren Bent ruled out for the rest of the season and they were given a further blow as it was revealed yesterday that Captain Stilian Petrov had been diagnosed with leukaemia. As has been the case with Bolton Wanderers recently following Fabrice Muamba’s collapse, fans will be hoping that the players can remain focussed and put in a good performance on behalf of a teammate. The Villan’s main problem of late has been scoring goals, losing Bent has obviously been a big blow, with only two goals scored in their last five games. They did however manage to score three at Stamford Bridge earlier this season though and their record against the Londoners will give them a confident boost going into the game tomorrow.

Chelsea: League form: DLWLW

Interim manager Roberto di Matteo has done well since stepping in for the sacked Andre Villas-boas; with highlights being a brilliant 4 – 1 win over Napoli to complete a superb European comeback and the recent away game in Benfica where his bold tactics and team selection paid off to help Chelsea to a crucial 1 – 0 win. However they still lie five points adrift of the coveted final Champions League spot and with Tottenham Hotspur not in action till Sunday, the game at lowly Aston Villa be a fantastic opportunity for di Matteo’s men to close the gap and put some pressure on Spurs. Despite their good form of five wins, one draw and one loss since Villas-boas left, Chelsea have only scored two goals in their last four Premiership matches and they will need more from their expensive strikers if they are to gain a win at Villa Park.

Match Prediction: Chelsea win 1.83 – William Hill

Chelsea have won only once at Villa Park in the last thirteen years, a record that will give the home team confidence when they line up tomorrow. Villa are also unbeaten in their last three encounters with Chelsea and won the reverse fixture 3 – 1 earlier this season. However a lot has changed since then, with the Londoners seemingly rejuvenated under new management added to the fact that Villa will be without two of the scorers from that match. Both teams have had extremely disappointing campaigns so far and need a result for very different reasons with Villa not quite safe from relegation just yet and Chelsea needing to edge closer to the final Champions League. It is a difficult game to predict however the away team will head into it on a high after a superb midweek win in Benfica and should be able to edge this.

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