Chelsea v Aston Villa Betting Preview
Most people will be putting this one down as a home win and the bookies across the board have drawn Chelsea in as overwhelming 1/3 favourite to take the three points. But Chelsea haven’t won any of their last four in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge, while the Villains are on a five match unbeaten streak and gained a big 3-1 win at Anfield last weekend. Could Paul Lambert’s men spring another surprise?
Chelsea v Aston Villa Betting Odds at online bookmaker Paddy Power
Chelsea 4/11, Draw 15/4, Aston Villa 8/1
Chelsea v Aston Villa Recommended Bet:
To many people’s surprise, last season Chelsea lost 3-1 in this corresponding fixture, could there be another turn up for the books? Chelsea need a win to keep up their hopes of securing a top three finish in the Premier League. Chelsea’s form is not great, not even at Stamford Bridge, which is a big surprise. They have failed to win half of their home matches so far, but have only lost once, the last three ending in draws. There has been just one win in the last eight matches in total for Chelsea in the Premier League, but they showed signs of improvement in their 3-1 win at Sunderland last weekend. Following on from a 5-1 win over Leeds in the week, which could have been a tricky match, full focus has to return to Premier League wins. That is all that is going to at least keep unhappy fans appeased with Rafa Benitez. The 0-0 home draws against Man City and Fulham didn’t warm Benitez to Chelsea fans, and only wins will. Benitez himself has suffered just one defeat in twelve Premier League meetings against Aston Villa, so that is a positive. The Blues will be missing John Terry, likely for the entire festive period though and with defensive frailties could be prone to an upset. Juan Mata is on a hot streak at the moment with four goals in his last five matches in all competitions for Chelsea. They have also conceded the first goal of the game in just three of their league matches this season, the lowest in the league. Villa are not a prolific side, but can Chelsea deliver with conviction?
Villa are on an upward trend, taking three draws and two wins from their last five games. They barely recorded 30% of possession at Anfield last weekend but somehow came away with a 3-1 victory. The form has seen them pull away from the relegation zone and they have been pretty solid at the back. They have kept three clean sheets in their last five matches, but all of those were at home. Aston Villa have won just one away match this season, a 1-0 triumph at Sunderland, which is also their only clean sheet on the road this term. Aston Villa aren’t going to win by high margins. Only twice this season in the Premier League have Villa scored more than one goal. So getting anything from Stamford Bridge will require a huge defensive effort and hope to catch Chelsea on the break. Villa have only won one of their last 10 Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge, so no great history. But if Chelsea are lacking conviction, Villa may be good enough to dig in and get a draw out of this one. However, Chelsea have generally produced goals in this fixture though and a Draw/Chelsea Half Time/Full Time bet is trading at a decent value of 7/2 with online bookmaker Paddy Power.
Form
Chelsea LWWWLW, Aston Villa DWDDWW
Stat Attack
Chelsea are without a win in their last four home matches in the league
Chelsea have only conceded the first goal of the game three times this season
Rafa Benitez has lost just one of 12 EPL meetings with Villa
VIlla have only won one of their last 10 Premier League matches at Stamford Bridge
Online bookmaker Promotion
There is some live in running betting coverage which could be worth taking at Paddy Power. If there are no goals in the second half of Chelsea v Villa, then then online bookmaker Paddy Power will refund all losing Correct Score in-running bets placed before the start of the second half. So great coverage for your live betting, and Paddy Power offer up to a free £50 bet for new customers registering an account with them as a welcome bonus.
