The final act from Saturday’s Premier League slate comes from Villa Park as Unai Emery's Aston Villa welcome Enzo Maresca's Chelsea for a 5.30pm kick-off.
The Villans are fresh off Tuesday’s 2-2 draw at home against league leaders Liverpool, one in which they very nearly snatched all three points late on.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have slipped out of the top four after defeats to Manchester City and Brighton in two of their last three Premier League assignments.
- ASTON VILLA TO WIN
- OVER 2.5 GOALS
- CHELSEA TO RECEIVE MOST CARDS
Bet On The Premier League
Villans To Gain Key Win
Chelsea head for the Midlands off the back of successive defeats in the FA Cup and Premier League, both against Brighton.
Maresca's side were brushed aside by the Seagulls last time, going down 3-0 and failing to register a shot on target.
Since their scoreless draw against Everton in December, Chelsea are on a run of just two wins in nine league games, those successes coming at home against Wolves and West Ham.
Emery's side are just marginally better, with last week's bitterly disappointing home draw against 10-man Ipswich one of five Premier League games without a victory. They were largely outplayed by Liverpool here in midweek but gained a point.
The Blues were 3-0 winners in the reverse game in December but, before that, Villa had won two and were unbeaten in three league meetings between this pair.
They can close to within a point of Chelsea with a win and, with just one league defeat at home all season, can grab that vital three points.
ASTON VILLA TO WIN
Goals Should Be On The Agenda
Both teams have scored in five of Villa's last six games in all competitions, and the same is true of Chelsea.
Furthermore, each of the Blues’ last seven fixtures in all competitions have gone over the 2.5 goal mark.
When these clubs do battle at Villa Park, over 2.5 goals has been a bet that landed in seven of the last eight meetings.
Entering this round of games, Villa (40) and Chelsea (34) were two of the three leakiest defences in the Premier League's top 10 clubs. Expect this Saturday evening showdown to produce plenty of goals.
OVER 2.5 GOALS
Visitors To Be The Villains
The travelling Londoners are expected to fall foul of the referee in Birmingham.
Chelsea have picked up more yellow cards than their opposition in three of their last four games in the league.
The Blues are top of the Premier League's yellow card table, with 71 so far. Villa, by contrast, have just 52.
Discipline has been a real highlight for Emery's side of late. Axel Disasi was their only caution in midweek against Liverpool and will sit this game out against his parent club.
Against Ipswich, Tottenham and Celtic in three of the four games before that, Villa remarkably failed to earn a single caution.
If, as expected, this turns into a challenging evening for Chelsea, expect them to win the card count.
CHELSEA TO RECEIVE MOST CARDS
