Aston Villa vs Chelsea prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2022-10-15 13:00.
Despite a four-match unbeaten run (W1, D3), pressure is building on Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard who challenged his team to be more “courageous” in the final third after their latest 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest. It’s easy to see why Gerrard may see that as the answer to their problems considering they’ve scored no more than once in a Premier League (PL) game since round two, but a more attack-minded approach against Chelsea would perhaps be better defined as foolish rather than courageous.
With just one win from their last ten PL games against Chelsea (D1, L8), the prospects look fairly bleak for a Villa turnaround here as they continue to loiter dangerously close to the relegation zone. Hope springs eternal at home though, with Villa now having the chance to follow up their 1-0 win against Southampton in their last home outing with a second-successive home PL win in the same season for the first time since January 2021.
Chelsea make the trip north on the back of a 2-0 UEFA Champions League (UCL) victory against AC Milan which fired them into top-spot in Group E, and leaves them looking good for knockout stage qualification. It highlights a remarkable UCL turnaround, with Chelsea looking down and out prior to successive victories against Milan, leaving Graham Potter still unbeaten as Chelsea boss (W4, D1).
While Gerrard looks around his Villa dressing room for inspiration, Potter sees it everywhere, with Chelsea boasting the most goalscorers in the PL this season (ten), which perhaps explains Potter’s heavy rotation in last week’s 3-0 victory against Wolves. On the back of that trip to Milan in midweek, Potter could rotate again, but having lost five of his eight managerial league meetings with Aston Villa (W1, D2), it’d perhaps be best to take nothing for granted.
Players to watch: Aston Villa may look to Jacob Ramsey for inspiration, but the midfielder tends to grow into games having never scored a senior club goal before the half-hour mark. Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling tends to travel well, and his next PL away goal will be his 50th such strike.
Hot stat: Aston Villa have conceded exactly once in five of their last six PL home games.