What : Chelsea vs Aston Villa

Where: Stamford Bridge

When: Sunday, Dec. 23 

Time : 16:00 hrs GMT

 

Chelsea are back playing in the Premier League after missing their game last weekend due to the Club World Cup trip to Japan. Sadly for the Blues, it was a trip to forget after that 1-0 loss to Corinthians in the finals. But they will go into the match high on confidence after the 5-1 drubbing of Leeds in the midweek Capital One Cup.

EPL Head to Head

Aston Villa have come into their own, giving Paul Lambert a reason to smile, with a well-deserved 3-1 win over Rafa Benitez’s former side, Liverpool FC. Lambert will hope his side, on a run of 5 games without a loss, can continue the streak against an unpredictable Chelsea side.

Table before Fulham vs Liverpool

 

Chelsea Stats and Team News :

Chelsea’s season so far

 

Chelsea will more than likely welcome back Gary Cahill from suspension while John Terry (knee) and Danial Sturridge (hamstring) look set to remain on the sidelines. John Obi Mikel remains suspended. Romeu is their long time absentee. 

Luiz could partner Lampard in the midfield which was also hinted by Benitez in the pre match interview.

Torres will retain his place and we could see a mix in the 3 behind him.

Likely Line Up : (4-2-3-1) :

 Cech(GK);

Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Cahill, Cole;

Luiz, Lampard;

Moses, Mata, Hazard;

Torres

 

Key Player : Juan Mata. 

Definitely Chelsea’s player of the season so far, Mata has had a wonderful first half so far. With 6 EPL goals and almost a 90% pass accuracy, Mata will be the key man in Chelsea’s attack. His accute one-two’s with Torres or Hazard can cause a real  problem to the opposition.

All of Mata’s Passes and % accuracy  in EPL this season

 

 

The likely Line-Ups of both teams : 

 

 

 

Aston Villa Stats and Team News : 

Aston Villa’s season so far

 

Team News :

Despite Darren Bents recent return to the fold he looks set to sit out this weekend with hamstring problems. Gabriel Agbonlahor looks set to return following a knock and also midfielder Stephen Ireland returns from illness. It’s bad news for Villa defensively with Richard Dunne (groin), Ron Vlaar (calf) and Gary Gardner (knee) all set to miss out.

Likely Line Up : (5-3-2):

GuzanGK;

Lichaj, Baker, Clark, Herd, Lowton;

Holman, Bannan, Westwood;

Weimann, Benteke.

Key Player : Christian Benteke

With Benteke scoring 4 goals in his last 5 matches for Villa, they have finally found a player who can fill in for Bent. With a sudden rise in form which started in the 3-2 loss against Man United, Benteke saw himself being picked for the Belgium team, that immediate next week. He did justice to his selection and scored Belgium’s only goal in the 2-1 loss to Romania. Then on, he scored against Reading, Norwich and twice against Liverpool, all these coming in 3 weeks time.

Benteke’s season so far

 

Prediction : Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa

Chelsea will spoil Villa’s party before Christmas. With David Luiz likely to start in midfield, he will not only provide killer passes to the frontline but even if he goes front, there will be back up at the back. And Frank Lampard is also showing no signs of ageing and will continue to be a nightmare for Villa from set pieces.