Important points up for grab
Aston Villa welcome Chelsea to Villa Park on Sunday afternoon with the hopes of finally climbing above the relegation zone whilst visitors Chelsea will want to keep a tight grip on 4th place thus qualifying for next years Champions League. In other words, very important points are on the line for both sides.
Aston Villa
The villains were the better side when they played out a rather dull 0-0 draw against Sheffield United this past Wednesday but were fortunate enough to see a perfectly legitimate Sheffield goal get ruled out due to a total technological failure.
Not going to plan
Villa are not having the season they had hoped for after spending a whopping 146 million pounds during the last transfer window accumulating 7 wins, 5 draws and a very disappointing 17 defeats since then. Dean Smith's men have scored a respectable 34 goals in league play but have conceded a whopping 56 goals, the highest in the league which quite clearly highlights their problems.
Step in the right direction
Their performance against Sheffield was a huge step in the right direction, snatching a point from the current 6th place holders and surprise package of the year which is a far cry from the 4-0 demolishing they suffered at the hands of Leicester just before the lockdown.
Villa possess a squad full of quality and have every chance of turning their fortunes around, especially if the heart and motor of it all, Jack Grealish, continues to deliver massive displays of hard work and technical brilliance.
Chelsea
The blue's went into lockdown off the back of impressive wins against Tottenham (2-1) and Everton (4-0) as well as a slightly disappointing draw away to Bournemouth (2-2) cementing their 4th place and keeping 5th placed Manchester United 3 points at bay.
Important returns
The mandatory break was good news for Lampard on the injury front and can now count on the services of both Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson Odoi yet again. The recoveries are currently of extra important at the moment due to the fact that both Pedro and Willian's contracts are imminently expiring along with reports of the first-named refusing to play.
However, the most significant return is that of N'Golo Kante who is fully fit for fight after suffering a thigh injury back in February.
Goals galore
Chelsea have been solid on the road this season recording 7 wins, 3 draws and 4 defats in league play whilst scoring 29 times (2nd highest in the league) but also conceding 24 (12th best) which has resulted in an unnecessary amount of lost points.
Chelsea are on the up, when considering the fact they have signed both Ziyech and Werner, even more so. If they can keep the form from before the break going Chelsea fans should be very excited for the remainder of this season, and the next.
Betting tip
The pair of them both score and concede a lot of goals which is why i will simply be backing Over 2.5 goals at the odds of 1.60 with Betway.
A great alternative for those looking for more value is Chelsea to win and over 2.5 goals at 2.05.
