

Venue: Stamford Bridge
Date: Saturday, 31 December
Kick-off: 1500 GMT
Around this time last year we met Aston Villa in a frustrating 3-3 draw that we really should have won but for a lapse in time added on. Strangely enough, we weren’t on great form then either – lacklustre, lethargic, a bit dull and toothless in the first half of games, so it’s all a bit déjà vu lately. Mind you, a late burst did see us finish the season respectably, so who knows what 2012 might bring. As for our final game of 2011 though, after 3 successive 1-1 draws, we’ll all be desperate for something other than just New Year to celebrate tonight!
MANAGERS’ VIEWS
Ahead of this afternoon’s game, after a difficult last few games, Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas says “Villa have slowly been making progress. Alex (McLeish) has got Villa very well organised, they are one of the teams that shows great competence defending and also playing away from home, they have a lot of draws. They are compact and well organised. From what I have studied Alex has not changed a lot from game to game, they know each other’s roles and have good relationships. They can give us a difficult challenge. The emotions that happened last year in the 3-3 were amazing and hopefully we can be competent enough to get the three points.”
Villa boss Alex McLeish meanwhile, says “It’s a hard away game. Chelsea don’t lose too many at their place. But they are starting to lose a bit of ground in the league as opposed to Manchester United and Manchester City. That will have hurt the Chelsea players and Villas-Boas and they will try to take that out on Villa to make sure they are still in the hunt. But we have got to have something to say about that.
We have nothing to lose at the weekend. The players have got to throw the shackles off as they have done the last couple of games. We played some really good football in the Arsenal game and, if they go out with that same kind of attitude and outstanding performance levels, we can surprise people. We know that Chelsea will be favourites but sometimes the bookies don’t get it right.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Chelsea, Essien (knee), Ivanovic and Mikel (both hamstring) all miss out, JT and Bosingwa have both shaken off knocks picked up against Fulham and Ramires returns from suspension.
For Villa, Heskey (Achilles) misses out although McLeish hopes to have Bent (thigh) available again and Hutton returns from his ban.
TEAMS
CHELSEA (from): Cech, Bosingwa, Ferreira, Terry, Luiz, Cole, Romeu, Lampard, Ramires, McEachran, Mata, Malouda, Meireles, Torres, Drogba, Kalou, Sturridge, Lukaku, Turnbull.
VILLA (from): Guzan, Hutton, Cuellar, Collins, Dunne, Clark, Warnock, Herd, Delph, Bannan, Petrov, Ireland, Albrighton, Bent, Agbonlahor, Delfouneso, N’Zogbia, Weimann, Marshall, Johnson, Gardner.
LAST SEASON
Chelsea 3-3 Villa (2nd January 2011)
PREDICTION
So, off the back of 3 successive 1-1 draws what can we realistically expect at home to a side who are making a habit of taking a point away from home? Well, they haven’t won at Stamford Bridge since 2002 and they’ve now failed to score in 5 of their last 7 Premier League games this season, so there’s a bonus there but then again, in our last 4 meetings with Villa at Stamford Bridge there have been six penalties awarded, so any optimism might be premature. You wouldn’t bet against them taking another point would you?