Venue: Stamford Bridge Kick Off: Sunday 23rd December, 3pm. Referee: Phil Dowd
Match Preview
The clash between Chelsea and Aston Villa will be Rafa Benitezs ninth game in charge of the London club and whilst the fans may not yet be warming to the Spaniard, a strong team and victory against Leeds United midweek proves he's not in the mood to want to let the fans down. Chelsea have however been somewhat poor in Premier League since his appointment and beyond, having failed to win a home game since the 3rd October and having only picked up four points in their last five matches. In contrast, Villa have picked up seven points in their last five games, grabbing honours against Arsenal and Liverpool. They are currently 14th in the league and havent lost a games since the 17th of November. Paul Lambert will no doubt put his faith in the likes of top scorer Christian Benteke to try and grab an early victory, although if Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres are on form the game could be a repeat of Chelseas 5-1 domination over Leeds United on Wednesday.
Team News
Chelsea will be without defender John Terry as the captain continues to recover from a knee injury, as well as Daniel Sturridge who is out with a hamstring injury. Villa will no doubt miss Darren Bent who is also suffering from a hamstring injury, Dunn and Gardner are the other names who are in recovery.
Possible Line Ups
Chelsea: Cech, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill, Cole, Lampard, Ramires, Mata, Hazard, Moses, Torres. Subs: Turnbull, Blackman, Hilário, Ferreira, Ivanovic, Bertrand, Oscar, Marin, Piazón
Aston Villa: Guzan, Lowton, Herd, Clark, Baker. Lichaj, Westwood, Bannan, Holman, Weimann, Benteke. Subs: Given, Ireland, El Ahmadi, N'Zogbia, Albrighton, Delph, Bowery, Agbonlahor, Vlaar, Marshall, Burke. Source:
The Guardian