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| PROBABLE LINEUPS |
ASTON VILLA  GivenLichaj, Cuellar, Collins, Warnock Albrighton, Herd, Gardner, Ireland Agbonlahor, Heskey | CHELSEA  CechFerreira, Luiz, Terry, Cole Mikel, MeirelesRamires, Mata, Kalou Torres |
Aston Villa's already-thin squad has been stretched further by injuries, with Charles N'Zogbia (knee) expected to miss out for the second match in a row and captain Stilyan Petrov doubtful with an illness. Alan Hutton, too, is unavailable with a calf problem, meaning that American youngster Eric Lichaj is in line for his first start of the season.
Darren Bent's long-term injury make it likely that Emile Heskey will escape Alex McLeish's axe up front despite a poor performance in Villa's 3-0 defeat by Arsenal last time out.
Roberto Di Matteo would surprise nobody by keeping faith with the XI that excelled in Lisbon on Tuesday. The goalscorer in that game, Salomon Kalou, would therefore remain rather than Chelsea turning back to the likes of Daniel Sturridge.
The Blues' only injury of note is that of right-back Branislav Ivanovic, still struggling with a muscle tear, with previously out-of-favour Paulo Ferreira the favourite to make another rare appearance on Saturday.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
Aston Villa have scored just three goals in their last six matches, a streak which includes no instances of two or more in any given match and goes back to February 1.
- Chelsea have played seven fixtures across all competitions under interim manager Roberto Di Matteo, winning five while drawing and losing only one apiece.
- Gary Cahill (pictured), a January acquisition for Chelsea, played 30 games for Villa between 2005 and 2008, when he moved to Bolton.
- The Blues have lost their last three away fixtures in the Premier League - to Everton (2-0), West Brom (1-0) and Manchester City (2-1).
- The hosts are slow starters, having yet to score in the opening 10 minutes of any of their league matches this season.
- Chelsea will be aiming to atone for their last meeting with the Villans, who stunned the Stamford Bridge crowd on December 31 with a 3-1 victory.
- Aside from the injured Darren Bent, Villa's top goalscorer is Gabriel Agbonlahor with six for the season, but the forward has not found the net since the FA Cup clash with League Two outfit Bristol Rovers in January. The last time that Agbonlahor scored against a Premier League club was against Norwich City on November 5.
- The Blues have only taken all three points on one of their last 12 visits to Villa Park, having drawn seven and lost four of their other matchups in the Midlands.
- When away from home in the Premier League, Chelsea are most likely to score between the 50th and 60th minutes, having netted 30 per cent of their goals on the road during that period.
Aston Villa have already lacked quality this season but now they lack numbers too, and it is very difficult to envisage their skeleton squad pulling off a second upset against the Blues of the season. They may defend determinedly for some time, but if Chelsea score once - and, with the likes of Fernando Torres seeming to be recovering rapidly in form, that seems more than likely - then the floodgates could open and it should really be a question of 'how many?' for the visitors.
Editor's Prediction
Aston Villa 0-3 Chelsea 
