Prediction & odds for the game: Chelsea (8/13) v Aston Villa (4/1) – ST is backing the home win

When: Sunday, 28th December @ 5.30pm K.O

Where: Stamford Bridge

Chelsea will play host to Aston Villa tomorrow in what is turning out to be a battle between two European contenders this season.

Chelsea

Even though they may have one of the best teams in world football on paper, Chelsea haven’t always been able to transition that into positive results this season. The problem is that there are so many expectations for what the Blues can accomplish, when in reality, these things take time. There are going to be a few obstacles that they need to overcome and as we look ahead to the future, Frank Lampard needs to know that more adversity is on its way.

Comprehensive wins over Leeds and West Ham highlighted the very best that Chelsea have to offer. Unfortunately, the down side is that the worst parts of their game also rear their ugly head from time to time. In December alone they have drawn with Krasnodar, lost to Everton, lost to Wolves and, arguably most crucially, lost to rivals Arsenal.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa fans are able to enjoy watching their team play in the Premier League for the first time in a long time, turning a season in which they narrowly avoided relegation into a new campaign that has seen them mix it up in the top six more than most of us could’ve anticipated. Whether or not they’re able to sustain this forward momentum is anyone’s guess, but for now, Dean Smith deserves an awful lot of praise.

Back to back defeats against Brighton and West Ham had  left many supporters wondering whether or not Villa would begin to drop like a stone, but after derby day wins over West Brom and Wolves, all fears were put to one side. They showed real fight against Burnley despite not being able to break them down, and against Crystal Palace, they fought through a red card to come out on top as 3-0 winners.

Conclusion

While Villa have all the confidence in the world behind them, we think the pressure that currently rests on the shoulders of Frank Lampard will serve as the boost that his side need to push on and win this game. They’re able to completely neutralise the opposition when they play to their full potential and we’re backing them to do just that against the Midlanders here, especially given how hard they worked with 10 men in their last outing.

Our official scoreline prediction is going to be 2-0 Chelsea, ensuring that we stick with the under 2.5 goals bracket.

Verdict: Back the home win at odds of 8/13 and the under 2.5 goals scored at odds of 11/8 (All odds are taken from bet365).

[geosnippet id=3620]

If you want to bet on Chelsea vs Aston Villa then head on over to the betting page. Alternatively, you can check out some of the other available fixtures at the soccer predictions page as we continue through this thrilling month of top flight action.