Chelsea vs Aston Villa

[Madmax 9,219]

Would rather -

Cech

Bos - Bruma - JT - Cole

Essien

Ramires - Lampard

Kakuta - Drogba - Malouda

• Mikel to come on if (when) trying to hold on to a lead

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I like Aston Villa's squad right now.. The likes of Albrighton, Downing, Young, Abonglahor, all impressive right now. But they do have problems at the back right now, so an early goal will go a long way in our favour.

[magic weeds 446]

Its written all over that Bruma is lined up for this one. Hope thats true. The lad needs some confidence from the manager. Am afraid that this might be his last game for Chelsea this season.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I hope Bruma outshines Terry

[Kostas 1,468]

Its written all over that Bruma is lined up for this one. Hope thats true. The lad needs some confidence from the manager. Am afraid that this might be his last game for Chelsea this season.

Could be but I doubt it'll significantly affect his future at the club. Ancelotti's opinion ≠ Club's view.

On the other hand now that Arnesen has farked off one might think our plans for all those young players will change, from the "forgotten" Cork, Mancienne, Bertrand and Rajkovic to Bruma, Kakuta, Kalas, Delac et al.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Rajkovic to Bruma, Kakuta, Kalas, Delac et al.

Rajkovic has been receiving some praise from the Vitesse coach..

“Some day, Rajkovic will captain a big club.”

“Not just play for one, but captain. I have great confidence in him, he has shown great consistency in his performances.

He also has the right attitude. Because of his personality, I had no problem in giving him the captaincy.

Of course, he can be aggressive, but everyone knows he is the captain. His word is important.

[Kostas 1,468]

]But they do have problems at the back right now, so an early goal will go a long way in our favour.

As did most teams we faced during November and December, Newcastle and Tottenham just to name two.

[eldo 868]

Rajkovic has been receiving some praise from the Vitesse coach..

We can't get working permit for him. Otherwise he would be ideal for these times.

Yes, Bruma will play.

[Kostas 1,468]

Bruma will start according to the official site.

[Madmax 9,219]

And some say Ancelotti doesn't learn ...

I hope the ones who've been criticisng him for not showing faith in youngsters now give him due credit for starting Bruma in this game.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I was confident Bruma would play because Terry will also be in the team. Correct me if I'm wrong but the majority of his starts have been alongside Terry, I think largely because Ancelotti thinks JT will 'talk Bruma through' the match.

[Shane 2,275]

Carlo Ancelotti has made his decision on who will replace suspended Branislav Ivanovic in central defence against Aston Villa and he has opted for youth.

Nineteen-year-old Jeffrey Bruma will be given that position on the pitch ahead of other options such as Paulo Ferreira or Michael Essien.

'It is the time that we can use Bruma,' Ancelotti confirmed, speaking to Chelsea TV at Cobham on Friday.

'He is a young player who is a very good defender. He has a lot of ability, he has played some games and in this time he is improving. He works very closely with John Terry, Ivanovic and Alex and it is the time to put him in. I am sure that he will do his best.'

Sunday's match will be the Dutch defender's first start in the Barclays Premier League. He has begun one match in the Champions League and one in the Carling Cup and made six appearances as a sub.

In the Carling Cup game against Newcastle this season, John Terry and Alex shared a half apiece as his partner at the back. Against Zilina in the Champions League it was Ivanovic. On Sunday he will line up alongside the captain.

'For Bruma it will be fantastic support to have Terry alongside,' noted Ancelotti, 'but he trained very well, he knows how he has to move but with John Terry it will be easier to move.'

There are no new injuries to the squad but John Obi Mikel, who missed the Bolton game, will not be available. He suffered a knee ligament strain against Arsenal and is expected to be out for approximately three weeks. Daniel Sturridge, who was absent from the Arsenal and Bolton games with a knee injury, is back in training. Aston Villa have Emile Heskey and Ashley Young returning from injury but Luke Young remains out.

'The last two weeks when we were able to train was very good and the players rested very well from the games,' said Ancelotti.

'We have to beat Aston Villa because we have to confirm the performance in the second half against Bolton. Obviously we have to improve our place in the table and we are not sure everything is okay now, we have to confirm this with a good performance to start the new year with confidence.

'Aston Villa are in trouble now and we have to pay a lot of attention because every game for them will be important. They can use maybe the game against us to move on and for this reason we have to pay attention because they will use a lot of energy for this game.'

Defending and attacking set-pieces are important parts of the game for any side looking to climb the table. Ancelotti is happy with the way we have dealt with opposition free-kicks and corners. Only West Ham have found our net that way in the league, but he is hoping to see his team score more in the coming months, especially from corners where early season success has dropped away. Ivanovic against Moscow in early November was the most recent one scored.

'On set pieces this season we have done well. We scored from a set piece against Arsenal, we didn't score maybe from corners but the most important thing is we didn't concede a league goal from set pieces and defensively we did very well. Last season in the first matches we conceded a lot of goals and now we are more in focus. Also now Frank Lampard is back and he is very good at taking corners and maybe we can have more opportunities.'

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

The only thing I fear is that sometimes Bruma goes out of position which leaves gapes into the penalty area. Hopefully he will stay discipline.

[Term-X 7,891]

Good news.

The thought of Ferreira at CB gives me nightmares.

[DYC. 7,542]

Finally.

Glad to hear Sturridge is back. I hope CA opens his eyes and switches Daniel's and Salomon's ''ranking'' in the team.

[5354 204]

Young and Heskey is back for Villa.

Lets hope we will stay onto to Cole and Bosingwa was our fullbacks.

[Peace. 4,352]

There are no new injuries to the squad but John Obi Mikel, who missed the Bolton game, will not be available. He suffered a knee ligament strain against Arsenal and is expected to be out for approximately three weeks.

I just hope it isn't the same three weeks that Lampard has had...

[LDN Blue 7,903]

It's about f*cking time. (For Bruma)