Chelsea vs Aston Villa: Blues too hot for Villa to handle

 

A youthful Aston Villa have improved rapidly in recent weeks, but Kevin Hatchard expects them to come unstuck against a Chelsea side that's rediscovered its scoring  touch.

 

 

 

Chelsea vs Aston Villa, Sun 16:30 BST, Live on Sky Sports 1

Match Odds: Chelsea 1.36, Villa 10.0, the draw 5.7

 

Rafa Benitez remains as popular with Chelsea fans as a verruca in a swimming pool, but I sense he is starting to take the club in the right direction. The 5-1 Capital One  Cup win at Leeds United in midweek could prove to be a turning point - at 1-0 down a damaging defeat was on the cards, but the counter-attacking football the Blues played  in the second half was breathtaking. Such a ferocious comeback will reinforce the confidence of an attacking unit that has stuttered at times this season.

 

Chelsea have won four of their last five matches under Benitez, and while you could argue the opposition has been far from stellar, momentum is being built up. Chelsea  have rattled in 17 goals in five games, and much-maligned striker Fernando Torres has banged in six of them. Benitez is working hard to create an effective synergy between  Torres and his team-mates, and there are signs that work is paying off. At the other end of the pitch, the return from suspension of key defender Gary Cahill will be a  welcome boost.

 

The young guns of Aston Villa have dramatically improved in recent weeks, and Paul Lambert's men have gone six games unbeaten since a 5-0 drubbing at Manchester  City. At the heart of defence Nathan Baker has been outstanding, the midfielders work hard and pass well, while striker Christian Benteke is quickly becoming one of the  Premier League's most dangerous forwards.

 

Some will use Villa's recent 3-1 win at Liverpool as evidence that they can pull off an upset at Stamford Bridge, but I'm not convinced. It's worth considering that Liverpool  battered Villa in the opening exchanges at Anfield, and had they retained their composure in front of goal, they could have had a handy lead before Villa scored. I've covered  a lot of Villa games this season, and while they have some great individual defenders, as a unit they struggle against elite forwards. They shipped five goals at the Etihad,  conceded three against both Manchester United and Everton, and the continued absence of skipper Ron Vlaar (calf injury) won't help.

 

Despite Villa's improvement, I think Chelsea will have too much firepower for their young defence to cope with. Chelsea can be backed -1.5 on the Asian Handicap at  2.0, and that has paid out in each of their last four wins. Over 3.5 Goals is priced at a stingy 2.38, but it's still worth considering. Villa tend to be quite cavalier  on the road, and six of their 12 away games have featured at least four goals. Incredibly, 15 of Chelsea's matches this term have featured Over 3.5 Goals, including five of the  last six.

 

Recommended Bet: Back Over 3.5 Goals at 2.38

Best Bet: [bf]Back Chelsea -1.5 on the Asian Handicap at 2.0

 

Bet HERE

 

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