Aston Villa - Match Preview

[Strike 6,961]

About the match: After an emotional opening fixture at home to Hull, it is now time for Jose Mourinho's Chelsea team to get down to business and lay down an early marker for the title-challenging teams. A game, brought forward due to Chelsea's involvement in the UEFA Super Cup, gives the Blues an early chance to take sole control of the top spot. With tough away games coming up over the course of the next month, Jose will have stressed the importance of maximum points at home and this time it's Paul Lambert's young Aston Villa side visiting Stamford Bridge hoping to give a better account of themselves than the 8-0 demolition last time around

Date/Time: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 19:45 BST, 2:45 pm EST and 2:45 am HKT (Thursday morning)

Venue: Stamford Bridge, London, UK

About the Opposition: After initially struggling last season, Paul Lambert's young Villa side stayed up comfortably by 5 points. Christian Benteke, who scored 18 goals last season, was retained this summer after initially turning in a transfer request.

On the pitch, Villa stunned Arsenal 3-1 on the opening day with a masterclass in counter-attacking football. The 3 strikers - Benteke, Agbonlahor and Weimann - tormented the Arsenal defence and handling their pace and directness will be a significant test of the Chelsea defence.

Villa played a 4-3-3 formation with Benteke up-front supported by Agbonlahor and Weimann making runs on either side of the Belgian.

Latest Meetings: The last time these two sides met at the Bridge, Chelsea hit 8 goals past an hapless Villa team with 7 different players scoring. It equalled Chelsea's biggest league-win of all-time

The reverse fixture at Villa Park was similarly record-breaking, with Frank Lampard becoming Chelsea's all-time top scorer, scoring both goals in a 2-1 win.

Last 10 meetings

P W D L GS GA

10 6 2 2 30 12

Team News

Juan Mata, Victor Moses and Cesar Azpilicueta are all expected to return for this game having been rested in Sunday's win over Hull. Defender Tomas Kalas has been absent for a while now and joining him on the sidelines will be David Luiz, who was ruled out by Jose Mourinho.

Aston Villa are sweating over the fitness of defender Nathan Baker and Charles N'Zogbia.

Expected Lineups

Chelsea: Cech Azpilicueta Cahill Terry Cole Ramires Lampard de Bruyne Mata Hazard Lukaku

Aston Villa: Guzan Lowton Vlaar Clark Luna Westwood El Ahmadi Delph Weimann Agbonlahor Benteke

Stats and Facts

- Aston Villa was the last team to beat a Chelsea team managed by Jose Mourinho

- Christian Benteke is now the Premier League's top-scorer in 2013 with 16 goals

- Aston Villa are without a cleansheet at Stamford Bridge in 15 years

- Chelsea have scored 28 goals vs Aston Villa in the last 8 games between the two sides

- Frank Lampard has scored more goals against Aston Villa (13) than any other club

Odds: The odds reflect just how heavy favorites Chelsea are, with a Chelsea win at 1.3, a draw at 5.5 and a Villa win at a 10.8

TV Coverage: The game will be aired on Sky Sports in the UK, NBC in America, Al Jazeera in the Middle East and ESPN/Fox Sports in Asia. For region specific TV coverage, check the following link http://www.livesoccertv.com/match/860064/chelsea-vs-aston-villa/

Click here to view the article

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Great work, mate