Chelsea V Aston Villa
August 22, 2013 2:45 AM MYT
Stamford Bridge — London
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho could rotate his squad against Aston Villa with Monday’s trip to Manchester United in mind. – BBC
Chelsea and Aston Villa play this year’s first midweek match (because of Chelsea’s involvement in the UEFA Super Cup) as the hosts will look to build on their 2-0 victory over Hull City in the opening day of the season. Aston Villa who faced Arsenal last weekend went home with a 1-3 scoreline and buoyed by their heroics, the Villans would be confident and will be hoping to do better as Paul Lambert’s previous visit to Stamford Bridge saw him lose 8-0 to the Blues.
Chelsea, who crusied passed Hull City had an impressive game. The first half saw them go all out on the tigers while in the other half, they took things slowly and finished off with an easy 2-0 win.
Injury news and team news
It will be interesting to see what Paul Lambert does as his side faces back to back difficult games. Christain Benteke will once again prove to be his main man and the likes of Yacouba Sylla, Chris Herd, and Charles N’Zogbia who missed Arsenal’s game are still a concern.
Chelsea on the other hand may welcome David Luiz to the bench as he missed Hull’s encounter with a hamstring injury and Mourinho might not risk him with a starting berth as the Blues will have to face Manchester United in the league match very shortly after this. In other news expect Kevin de Bruyne, Oscar and Hazard to get the nod in the middle of the park while Mata’s fitness news have not been revealed so far.
And Mourinho is wary of Villa following their success at the Emirates Stadium. Talking to the press ahead of the game, he said:
“It’s not such a big surprise because Aston Villa can do that to any one of us,” Mourinho said. Last season they had more points away from home than at Villa Park. They are a team with qualities to play away, to play the counter-attack game they played at the Emirates.
They are a good team. It’s not such a big drama, they can beat any one of the contenders.”
Possible Starting line-ups:
Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Bertrand; Essien, van Ginkel; Oscar, de Bruyne, Hazard; Lukaku
Aston Villa: Guzan; Lowton, Vlaar, Clark, Luna; Westwood, Delph, Ahmadi; Weimann, Agbonlahor, Benteke
Match Facts
- Jose Mourinho has never lost a Premier League match at Stamford Bridge, winning 47 and drawing 14 of his 61 games in charge at the ground.
- But Mourinho has not won any of his last four Premier League matches against Villa (D3, L1).
- Chelsea have won 14 and lost just one of their 16 league matches played in August under Mourinho
- Villa are unbeaten in their last three Premier League away matches since a 3-0 defeat at Manchester United in April.
- They were the only Premier League side to earn more points away (21) than at home (20) last season.
- It’s a club record 23 matches since Paul Lambert’s side last kept a Premier League clean sheet at home to Stoke City in December 2012.