Chelsea vs Aston Villa betting preview: odds and predictions
TENTH will play 11th in this televised game but – aside from Graham Potter’s future – there doesn’t seem to be a great deal at stake.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa odds
Here are the latest match odds for Chelsea v Aston Villa.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa betting preview
This game smacks of mid-table mediocrity and one that’s hard to get excited about.
Riled by that? OK, perhaps that’s a bit harsh.
Optimistic fans of these sides will point out they would only be eight points behind fourth-placed Spurs were they to win their game in hand, so it certainly is still possible that one – or even both – of them could make it into next season’s Champions League.
But the fact is neither has shown the consistency required to put a six, seven-game winning run together and, frankly, that’s what’s going to be required during the run-in.
Of the two, you’d have to pick Chelsea are the more likely candidates to pull off what would be a pretty remarkable achievement – their mish-mash of January signings is yet to really settle but again the optimists will tell you that it’s only a matter of time before they do.
However, it’s not difficult to argue that the transfer policy under Todd Boehly has been somewhat scattergun – for example, for all the hundreds of millions spent, they still lack a proper goalscoring centre forward.
And even when it comes to those who have arrived, it must have been painful in some way for Chelsea fans to see Mykhailo Mudryk fail to make any sort of impact against England last weekend – it’s really not controversial to suggest a £90million player should be delivering more.
It’s hard to get enthusiastic about Chelsea at around 7/10, especially given they face a Villa side who have taken 10 of the last 12 points on offer.
Ollie Watkins has been scoring for fun for them of late and should test a Chelsea defence when has been chopped and changed a lot of late. Admittedly, injuries haven’t helped but Thiago Silva remains out and will continue to be missed, while Reece James was once again struggling when away with England.
It would be no surprise to see this become another frustrating day for the hosts.
Best betting offers for Chelsea vs Aston Villa
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Chelsea vs Aston Villa key stats
- Ollie Watkins has scored in six of his last eight Villa appearances.
- Nine of Chelsea’s 13 home Premier League games this season have reached half time goalless.
- Under 2.5 goals has landed in 62% of games at Stamford Bridge this season. It has also occurred more often than not in Villa’s away matches.
- Reece James withdrew from England’s squad last week as his injury problems continue. Fellow Chelsea defender Thiago Silva is definitely out.
- For Villa, full-back Matty Cash is an injury worry after he missed Poland’s Euro 2024 qualifier with Albania.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa best bets
Villa-Draw double chance
Chelsea just seem to be being priced up too short at the moment given their lack of form and backing them not to win looks the way forward.
There’s a lot of frustration around Stamford Bridge at the moment with plenty now feeling Graham Potter isn’t the man for the job.
Whether that’s unfair or not is open to question but what can be said is that he’s struggled to gel the plethora of new signings together into a coherent team so far.
Villa may not have the same spending power and marquee signings but they have won just as many points as Chelsea this season and are on a decent run.
They have lost just one of their last six away games, the only loss in that run coming at Manchester City – no disgrace there – and they look capable of picking up some sort of result here.
Ollie Watkins first goalscorer
Watkins has scored in six of his last eight Villa games and that’s the sort of form which should catch a punter’s eye, especially in a game where his team look overpriced.
He’s 7/2 to find the net at any time – undoubtedly a price worth considering – but given this could well be a low-scoring game (see below) then it makes sense to back him as the first scorer at considerably bigger odds.
Notably, five of those six Watkins goals have been the first of the game, while he’s also on penalties for the visitors.
The price on offer simply looks too big to ignore.
Under 0.5 goals in first half
Statistically, a bet which offers value.
Nine of Chelsea’s 13 Premier League games at Stamford Bridge this season have failed to see a first-half goal.
The hosts have really struggled on the goalscoring front of late, netting only four goals in their six home league games in 2023, while Villa have only conceded once in their last four matches.
Given the odds, this looks well worth a bet.
How to watch Chelsea vs Aston Villa
- Location: Stamford Bridge, London, England.
- Time: Saturday, April 1, 17:30 BST.
- Where to watch: Sky Sports.
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