CHELSEA v ASTON VILLA - NO SEASONAL GOODWILL FROM THE BLUES AT THE BRIDGE?
Martin O’Neill’s Villa side have not managed a win in the whole of December so the last place most Premier League sides would want to go aiming for 3 points is fortress Stamford Bridge. After all Chelsea have not been beaten there in the League for 71 games, in fact home season ticket holders have not seen a defeat at the Bridge since February 2004. To add some festive flavour, if the Blues remain unbeaten on Boxing Day, they will have spent 4 Christmases unbeaten at the Bridge, not bad eh!
However poor Villa’s December form has been, they do have an excellent recent head-to-head record with Chelsea. The Villans have not been beaten in the last 4 encounters between these sides. O’Neill’s team also beat the Blues this season 2-0 at Villa Park with both John Terry and Didier Drogba in the away side. Chelsea are expected to be without Cech, Terry and Drogba for this match so chances of a Boxing Day shock are far more likely.
Defensively the Blues are as strong as ever with 6 clean-sheets in the last 7 matches, which makes up for their lack of goals. This apparent lack of firepower will be a problem for their title challenge unless Roman Abramovich manages to bring in a multi-million pound Christmas present in the shape of Bolton’s Nicolas Anelka. However, even without a regular goal scoring striker, the Blues should be too strong for Villa, so back them on Premier 10 to give O’Neill the Boxing Day Blues.
Pundit’s Pick: A festive 3 points for Chelsea (home win)
Tags: 26/12/07, Aston Villa, Blues, Chelsea, Martin O'Neill, Premier League, Review, Villan
