Aston Villa v Chelsea Preview

Martin O’Neill was no doubt looking forward to a quiet week until word came out of the England camp that Emile Heskey was considering a move away from Villa Park. O’Neills regular use of Agbonlahor as a lone striker has limited Heskey to just one start this season and the big Villa forward is concerned that his lack of starts for the Villains could jeopardise his involvement in next year’s World Cup. HHeskey has since claimed that he was misquoted by reporters but O’Neill will no doubt have a few stern words to say to his player. In Villa’s last match prior to the international break, they put up a tough performance in holding a rampant Man City to a 1-1 draw at Villa Park. Villa’s Richard Dunne put one over on his old club by scoring the opener but serious second half City pressure was rewarded when the outstanding Craig Bellamy levelled the game just after the hour mark. It was Villa’s first draw of the season which was sufficient to bump them up to 7^th place and they’ll be going into this with some confidence.

After a week where a number of Chelsea players faced each other on opposing sides during the climax of the World Cup qualifying stages, a reunited Blues side return to domestic action at Villa Park looking to retain their top spot. Last time out, Chelsea put the Wigan disaster of 3 weeks ago firmly behind them with a deserved 2-0 win over Liverpool at the Bridge. It was Liverpool’s third defeat of the season and enough to send the Blues back to the top of the table. Ancelotti will be relieved to see most of his players return unscathed from international duty, with the exception of Michael Ballack, who misses out after being injured by a tackle from Chelsea team mate Yury Zhirkov in the recent World Cup qualifier. Petr Cech should return between the sticks after a one game suspension.

Villa have made a decent start to the season, and with a win at Anfield and their recent bold showing against Man City, it shows that Villa shouldn’t be overlooked when facing the big boys. This is however a different proposition altogether, Chelsea ooze quality throughout the side and providing their big names aren’t too jaded after the internationals, they should have too much for Villa. We’ll keep this one simple and go for the Chelsea win at 1.83.

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