Kick-off: 1730, 01/04/2023
Stadium: Stamford Bridge
TV: Sky Sports
Chelsea are only above Aston Villa on goal difference in the Premier League table and are hard to trust as short-priced favourites.
While Graham Potter is under constant pressure to improve results, Unai Emery has settled in nicely at Villa and is earning plenty of plaudits.
Punters can get 6/5 for the visitors to avoid defeat at Stamford Bridge and that is our first Chelsea vs Aston Villa prediction.
Blues back to square one
There was genuine hope that Chelsea had turned the corner when ending a six-match winless run with a trio of victories.
The Blues secured Premier League wins over Leeds and Leicester either side of beating Borussia Dortmund to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
However, Potter’s position was back under scrutiny after relegation-threatened Everton twice came from behind to draw 2-2 in London.
The manager’s decision to take off the impressive Joao Felix in the closing stages and adopt a more passive approach backfired when Ellis Simms equalised in the 89th minute.
Potter’s side have only been ahead at half-time once in their last 11 Premier League matches and another shaky start could be on the cards here after the international break.
Looking at the Chelsea vs Aston Villa odds, we like 29/4 for a 1-1 draw at the interval.
Last Chelsea line-up: Kepa, Mukinayi, Chilwell, James, Koulibaly, Fofana, Fernandez, Kovacic, Pulisic, Havertz, Felix.
Emery making big impression
Villa took advantage of a favourable run of fixtures to pick up 10 points from a possible 12 prior to having a fortnight off.
The Midlands outfit secured wins over Everton, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, alongside an away draw at West Ham.
Emery hailed a 3-0 home victory versus the Cherries as: “Maybe the best 90 minutes we played here since I arrived.”
He added: “We controlled the game with the ball. We are looking up. It’s important to have big ambitions and face big challenges.
“Next step is top 10, but if we are ambitious you want to get to something more and look at the teams in the European positions.
“Of course, it is not in our hands to take a European place, but we have to try. We have to take this new challenge.”
Villa pulled off a real coup when landing the former Valencia, Sevilla, PSG, Arsenal and Villarreal boss and he has certainly made a big impression.
The visitors have been involved in more matches with early goals than any other team in this division this term.
Let’s add 21/10 for either side to score inside 15:00 minutes to our Chelsea vs Aston Villa betting tips.
Last Villa line-up: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Moreno, Luiz, Buendia, Ramsey, McGinn, Watkins, Bailey.
Additional stats
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