Kick-off: 1730, 28/12/2020
Stadium: Stamford Bridge
TV: Amazon Prime
Aston Villa leapfrogged Chelsea in the table on Boxing Day yet head into Monday’s meeting as massive underdogs.
Their 3-0 win against Crystal Palace was followed by a 3-1 defeat for Chelsea at Arsenal, meaning Villa are above the Blues on goal difference despite playing two fewer games.
Dean Smith’s men are also in better form so the hosts look much too short at 13/20 and we prefer Villa to avoid defeat at 6/5 as our opening Chelsea vs Aston Villa prediction.
A Look At Chelsea’s Betting Odds
Chelsea looked an away banker heading into their London derby at Arsenal on Boxing Day but looked short of energy as they slumped to a surprising but deserved defeat.
They conceded twice in the first half and the game was effectively over when Bukayo Saka added a third in the second half.
The Blues salvaged some pride when Tammy Abraham pulled a goal back but substitute Jorginho then missed an injury-time penalty.
A third away loss in a row left Frank Lampard bemoaning a slow start to the game, saying: “I am angry because I want us to win games.
“We were lazy to give away a penalty, lazy to give away a free-kick that he puts in the top corner and I am very, very disappointed in the way we approached the first half because some things in football are basics.
“It is not tactics or systems, it is do you want to run, back your team-mate out and sprint? Or do you want to jog and say ‘maybe I don’t have to run’, and we took that decision instead of the right one.”
Chelsea are yet to be behind at half-time at Stamford Bridge at least but the same can be said of Villa on their travels and they have only conceded one goal in that time.
With that in mind, a goalless first half is tempting at 5/2 in the Chelsea vs Aston Villa odds.
Last Chelsea line-up: Mendy, Silva, Zouma, Chilwell, James, Kante, Pulisic, Kovacic, Mount, Abraham, Werner.
A Look At Aston Villa’s Betting Odds
December could not have gone much better for Villa so far and a positive result at Stamford Bridge would be a fitting end to the month.
Three wins and a draw from their four matches as well as four clean sheets mean they head to London full of confidence.
Villa have managed five clean sheets in six away games so there looks to be little danger of them being blown away by Chelsea’s firepower, although the loss of Tyrone Mings due to suspension is a blow.
They have lost their last six meetings with Chelsea, including 2-1 defeats in both matches last season, but this looks a good chance to highlight their improvement this season.
The way they outplayed Palace in the second half with 10 men on Saturday bodes well and they have the potential to cause Chelsea problems on the counter-attack, with Ollie Watkins having produced three assists and hitting the post late on against Palace.
Chelsea only have 48 hours to recover from their laboured performance at Arsenal so let’s go for a 1-1 draw at 15/2 as our final Chelsea vs Aston Villa prediction.
Last Villa line-up: Martinez, Cash, Mings, Targett, Hause, Luiz, McGinn, Grealish, El Ghazi, Watkins, Traore.
Additional stats
Last result:
Arsenal 3-1 CHELSEA – Tammy Abraham
ASTON VILLA 3-0 Crystal Palace – Bertrand Traore, Kortney Hause, Anwar El Ghazi
Head-to-head: Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea, Chelsea 2-1 Aston Villa, Aston Villa 0-4 Chelsea, Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa
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