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Both Chelsea and Aston Villa got their EPL campaigns off to flying starts last weekend with impressive victories but at least one of those starts will come to a halt on Thursday when the pair meet at Stamford Bridge. Join us for live commentary from 04.45 am AEST.
The return of Jose Mourinho to West London has whipped Blues fans into frenzy, and the same will likely take place when ‘The Special One’ graces Stamford Bridge once more.
Mourinho received a rapturous applause last weekend from the crowd when the club played away to Hull City, and it cannot be underestimated just how important his return could be for Chelsea this year.
Courtesy of goals to Oscar and Frank Lampard, Chelsea easily accounted for the new-boys of the Premier League last week (winning 2-0), but they’ll know that this week’s test will be much tougher.
Aston Villa pulled off the upset of the opening weekend with a 3-1 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to two goals from bustling Belgian international Christian Benteke.
The Villians were superb at holding their shape and not allowing the Gunners’ possession-based attack to open them up defensively; which will again be of paramount importance against the likes of Juan Mata tonight.
Last time Aston Villa made the journey to West London, they were promptly dispatched 8-0 in the biggest victory of the Premier League season with seven different players finding the back of the net.
It’s interesting to note too that coming into that fixture, Villa were actually carrying some good form, going undefeated in their previous six matches, which included a win at Anfield against Liverpool.
Could their victory over Arsenal last week be an omen, of sorts, for Paul Lambert’s side, like it was when they played Chelsea last season?
Probably not, but even still, it’s very hard to see the Blues going down in this one in what will no doubt be an emotional match for the Stamford Bridge crowd.
Mourinho’s return has brought with it a great psychological boost, and with a plethora of talented attackers at his disposal, the Special One will line up one of the more dominant starting teams in the Premier League this weekend.
He will be without star defender David Luiz (who is still recovering from injury), but will likely get a boost from Mata being back in the starting team.
And he – combined with the likes of Lampard and Eden Hazard – should create enough goal-scoring opportunities to see the Blues over the line in this one.
Expect Villa to be much more competitive than they were last time they made the trip to the Bridge, with their confidence gained from last week no doubt giving them a huge boost for this one.
However, even with Benteke firing early and the likes of Fabian Delph and Gabriel Agbonlahor finding their feet in the middle, it’s very tough to see Lambert’s men making it back-to-back London victories this weekend.
A quiet first half could be in store, which could be quickly broken by the Blues after half-time, only for Villa to respond with their third penalty in two weeks.
Hazard will put the West Londoners back in front though as the game approaches the final 10 minutes or so, and that goal should be enough to see Chelsea over the line.
Chelsea to win 2-1, but either way, it promises to be a thrilling and intriguing match nonetheless.
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