Chelsea vs Aston Villa
In just 24 hours after their respective post-Boxing Day Premier League fixtures, Chelsea and Aston Villa will face off at Stamford Bridge to cap off 2020.
The Blues are looking to build some momentum as we head towards the winter break and they are hopeful that they can do so with a win from their home pitch.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa are gunning for more points as they lost significant ground in the standings after a hot start to the season.
Only three points separate between these two clubs with the home side having 25 points and are placed fifth, while the visitors have 22 points good for ninth place.
The schedule hasn’t been kind to majority of the Premier League clubs since they are left with not enough time to recover, so this is going to be a battle of attrition.
Team managers Frank Lampard and Dean Smith are expected to shuffle their lineups for this game, which simply means that the deeper team will get the upper hand.
As always, SBOTOP is here to serve you with the preview for this upcoming match.
Talking points
Frank Lampard not happy in playing back-to-backs
Frank Lampard did not mince words when asked about the short turnaround time between fixtures at the end of December.
The Blues will face Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow, and then they will serve as hosts to the Villans at Stamford Bridge 24 hours later.
“It’s two games in two days – 48 hours. I don’t see how it’s a fair playing field. I think it’s wrong and it’s not going to be the best for the players that play at a top level,” said Lampard during a recent press conference.
Because of this, it forces Lampard to get creative on his rotation in the upcoming matches.
Chelsea are coming off of a win against West Ham United the other day because of Thiago Silva and Tammy Abraham’s Premier League 2020 highlights, and both are expected to play big minutes versus the Gunners.
Kai Havertz, who came off the bench previously, will probably play the same role tomorrow. However, he may be given the opportunity to start against Aston Villa along with Hakim Ziyech.
The good thing for Frank Lampard is that he has options that he can plug in and out of his lineup. And a win here will give them a major confidence boost as they’re gunning for the championship.
Aston Villa are in the same boat as Chelsea
Like Chelsea, Aston Villa will play a back-to-back since they’ll face Crystal Palace first before flying over to Stamford Bridge a day later.
Team manager Dean Smith has a similar dilemma to Frank Lampard’s, although the latter will come in with a slight edge due to his deeper lineup.
Aston Villa have no choice but to continue to rely on the goalscoring exploits of Ollie Watkins and Jack Grealish, since they have generated 14 goals and seven assists so far.
Anwar El-Ghazi will be the x-factor for the Villans given his superb run over these last few matches. The young winger has scored three goals in his last three fixtures and he has blended well with their top scorers.
Anwar El Ghazi celebrates with teammates after scoring Aston Villa’s first goal against Wolves at Molineux Stadium.
History
The Villans will have a lot of catching up to do to somehow tip the scales.
In their 41 games together, Chelsea have been utterly dominant with 23 wins, while Aston Villa won in only eight occasions along with 10 draws.
Aston Villa’s last win over Chelsea was six years ago in a 1-0 scoreline which dealt a massive blow to the latter’s title hopes at the time.
The Blues have recorded six consecutive victories since then.
The Villans almost came away with a victory in their matchup last June when Kortney Hause scored during the first half. However, they couldn’t get the job done with no thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic.
Betting Tip
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Chelsea vs Aston Villa | Under 2.50 @ 2.15 |
| December 29, 1:30(GMT+8) |
The Premier League 2020 odds back for a win by the hosts via a large margin.
Chelsea are the heavy favourites at 1.56, while Aston Villa are priced at 5.40 and chances for a draw are at 4.10 in the 1X2 market.
However, the biggest value might come from the goal total of this upcoming contest.
Given these sides’ cumulative fatigue, the goals might be hard to come by. So I am looking for an outcome of Under 2.50 @ 2.15 or Total Goal 2-3 @ 2.34.
With defence being the name of the game, this will play right into the Blues’ hands. However, it will be hard to count out Aston Villa.
Chelsea are expected to win this one at home, but it should be a low-scoring affair where it might be decided by a late goal.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
| = €20 (Highly confident) |
 = €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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