When we see Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and John Terry on the score sheet, usually this is the cue of a big win, but sadly the usual isn’t the case at Stamford Bridge at the moment, as Chelsea were held to a 3-3 draw against the visiting Aston Villa side.

Both teams went into the game not in the best of forms and it will be fair to say that both the managers were under a little pressure to get a result.

Chelsea made two changes at the back, with Jeffery Bruma coming in for the suspended Ivanovic, the first full start in the League for the young Dutchman, and Paulo Ferreira replacing his Portuguese counterpart, Jose Bosingwa, at right-back.

Villa had a clear strategy to put pressure on Chelsea players and not to give them time and space, and decided to target two defenders in particular, as Agbonlahor took up a position beside Paulo Ferreira and Heskey tried to outmuscle Bruma.

Both the players gave a good display under pressure although it had to be said that due to Agbonlahor’s constant threat the Portuguese seldom made forward runs.

The Blues took the lead in 23rd minute after Malouda was clipped by James Collins and Lampard stepped up to put Chelsea ahead. Villa went close through Clark and Dunne initially and then got the equaliser late on in the half with a penalty as well when Essien fouled Reo-Coker in the box.

Despite the two goals, the first half was marred by the constant fouling by the Villa players. Six bookings in the first half tells it owns story, although Blues fan who saw the Bolton game might have an argument against this.

It was felt that we failed to capitalise on our early goal and let Villa comeback into the game, but the fact was that the constant fouling stopped Chelsea to get going as an attacking force and resulted in a all too familiar story for the Chelsea fans as another far from convincing first half display left a lot to be desired.

The second half begin in a shaky manner as Heskey headed in an early goal from an Ashley Young, whose play-acting drew constant criticism from the Chelsea fans throughout the game, cross to give Villa the lead and heap more pressure on the Blues.

In these hard times this might have taken the stuffing out of the players and for a moment it looked like that as well, but as Villa realised that they cannot continue to foul their way through the match and sat back, Chelsea started to slowly claw their way back into the game.

Both Lampard and Malouda forced saves from Friedel as Chelsea poured forward. Jose Bosingwa and Salomon Kalou were introduced to provide further impetuous to the Chelsea attack.

Kalou used a more direct approach and ran at defenders, something which we didn’t really do before his arrival, thereby causing trouble to the Villa defence. Time was running out for us, but there were signs that we could get back into the game, and these optimisms were justified when Didier Drogba equalised after the initial Kalou shot was saved by Friedel.

The whole ground joined in the celebrations, but there was more to come from the Blues. Chelsea continued to attack in search of the winner, and the reward came when Collin’s clearance from Cole’s cross went to Terry and he slammed it in into the right hand bottom corner, sending everybody into a delirium and I honestly mean, Delirium!

Everybody was still celebrating the goal and thinking about the five additional minutes when the final twist in the game came. Marc Albrighton, who came on late on for Agbonlahor, sent in a cross from the left, and Clark was allowed to get in a free header to shock the home fans.

In a matter of minutes, Chelsea fans experienced two extremes of emotions and had to accept the harsh reality this result brought, we are now six points behind leader Man Utd who have game in hand as well. If our defence of League title was hanging by a thread after the Arsenal game, you can assume yourself what kind of a situation it’s in now.

There are problems at Chelsea right now and we don’t know who has the answers to those problems. The only thing we as fans can do is get behind our team in any way possible, we enjoyed when the team were on a roll, but now they need our support when we aren’t getting the right results and Matthew Harding stands showed how to do that on any match day, they never stopped and backed the team throughout.

Carlo Ancelotti was disappointed to see his side give away their hard work in a moment of complacency, he said; “I think everyone thought the game was finished there but we needed to play again for five minutes and we needed to stay more in focus in those minutes.

“We managed to score in the last minute of the game but we needed to be focused until the end because we conceded a goal.

“We could have avoided the last minute with more focus, we could have won this game.”

Chelsea (4-3-2-1): Cech; Ferreira (Bosingwa 56), Bruma, Terry (c), Cole; Ramires (Kalou 72), Essien, Lampard; Anelka (Sturridge 78), Malouda; Drogba.

Goals Lampard (pen) 22, Drogba 83, Terry 89

ASTON VILLA (H) 02/01/11

Expected Team:

Friedel remains one of the more consistent Goalkeeper’s in the Premier League and will present a significant obstacle for Chelsea to overcome. Rarely found wanting, he is decent on crosses and a good shot stopper. His issue remains the amount of times he is tested during a game; Aston Villa tend to allow several clear-cut chances during a game, an indicative symbol of their current League position.

Collins and Cuellar have become Houllier’s preferred pairing in the heart of defence, replacing Dunne. Collins is an immobile choice at the back, while Cuellar’s style is both haphazard and clumsy at best. They are still very much a pairing in development and have been exposed at times this season, with the performance against Arsenal particularly poor.

Warnock remains a steady, if unspectacular, player who provides little attacking impetus for a modern full-back, whereas Lichaj is a player I feel is quite a promising full-back with a Rory Delap calibre throw-in; he is a more rounded player than the Stoke man.

Aston Villa’s undoubted strength comes from the pace and crossing ability that their wide men possess. In Albrighton, Villa possesses arguably the best crosser of a football in English football at the moment. His end product is at times absolutely perfect, which makes you wonder why Heskey or Carew have not scored more goals.

Ashley Young and Stewart Downing add further quality to this trio of wing wonders, both being direct, sharp and dangerous in the right areas. Young is both direct and pacey, while Downing has an excellent left foot and is a danger from outside the box. Agbonlahor should start up front for Villa and the problem he presents is obvious: electric pace and extremely robust.

Petrov and Reo-Coker will play a no thrills part in the centre of midfield. They will look to disrupt and niggle and sweep the ball out to the wide areas where possible. Petrov is still finding his feet after a spell out of the side, but he is combative and if given time can pass the ball with good effect. I expect Reo-Coker to provide the legs and bite, but he also gets from box-to-box and pops up in the area as you will remember from last season.

When Aston Villa play well they exploit the width of the pitch with superb efficiency. A team who are very much the antithesis of Arsenal, they will play the ball square, direct and look to hit both flanks as soon as possible.

In Ashley Young, Stewart Downing and Marc Albrighton Aston Villa have possibly the best trio of crossers in the Premier League. It is therefore no coincidence that Houllier will try to get the ball wide whenever possible to look to attack the byline and swing crosses into the box. Young’s pace will pose a problem to whoever he plays against, and the frequency he touches the ball will mean that he will eventually get quality into the penalty area.

Likewise, Albrighton looks a potential England winger in the making and his crossing ability is simply superb. John Terry and Jeffrey Bruma will have their hands tied aerially if Villa takes control of those channels.

What the chalkboard illustrates perfectly is the complete lack of centrally attempted passes in Aston Villa’s recent game against West Brom. Look at the frequency of balls arrowed wide and direct passes/crosses into the box. There is a clear pattern of play at hand here and something that we are generally good at counteracting. In Ashley Cole we possess one of the best one-on-one defenders in the game anywhere in the world, and you would think that Bosingwa’s pace would nullify some of the impact that Young in particular will have.

Their recent game against Manchester City highlighted the inherent fault with this philosophy. If you can stop them playing the ball wide and stop the ball coming into the box, you will stop them from scoring. Of course, City are one of the more defensively minded teams in the Premier League who look to play on the counterattack, yet their strength comes from their ability to manoeuvre opposition teams into the channels they want them to operate within.

The graphic illustrates this perfectly. The intense cluster of passes made is in an area that City can easily contain Villa, with only a handful of passes making any sort of impact around the area. In fact, Villa only managed to hit corners or long balls into the box with any success. We will need to similarly limit Villa’s ability to work the ball wide if we are to stop them successfully.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KEY ISSUES

1. MOMENTUM – After our recent woes the key word being thrown around the training ground this week will be “momentum”. We have a series of eminently winnable games coming up and they arrive at a time where the team are struggling for rhythm. Lampard showed glimpses of the control and experience we have missed in the past weeks, while Essien showed exactly what he capable is of with his rampaging run and pass to Drogba.

I will stress that there is nothing more important than picking up three points against Aston Villa. However, we must show some evidence of controlling possession and creating chances. Our next run of games is as follows: Wolves, Blackburn, Bolton, Sunderland, Liverpool, Fulham and Birmingham. We must take momentum from Bolton, through to Villa and beyond to go on a run of wins. Villa inclusive, we have a real chance to win 24 points on the bounce if we start to perform anywhere near our collective ability.

2. RAMIRES – Okay, we get it. Many of you do not rate the lad, fine. Yes, he cost a lot of money, is a Brazilian international and at 23 is not exactly a kid. Is it his fault he has been placed in a new League, in a side underperforming and short of confidence? New players should be afforded a settling in period, but Ramires has been thrown in at the deep end and asked to deputise in the absence of Essien and Lampard. Hardly the easiest of jobs for any recognised squad member, let alone a new addition.

All that aside, he actually has played fairly well of late. Ramires is getting used to the tempo of the League and needs people to vocally back him. After a good piece of play against Bolton, which was warmly received by the crowd, Ramires visibly grew on the pitch and ended up the best player on the park. Ramires is quick on the ball and should look to drive forward where possible to cause the opposition problems. His engine is superb, very much like Michael Essien, and he will be instrumental in covering the wider areas of the park to combat the pace of Messrs Young and Agbonlahor.

You get the feeling if the crowd back him or he manages to pop up with a goal, he might develop a little quicker than many anticipated. I talk about confidence and how it breeds performances. Look at the tangible difference pre-goal and post-goal in Chelsea’s performance against Bolton. Top players looking nervous, afraid in a way that was akin to watching England play; then we score. Ramires was no different to our experienced players. All he needs is a few things to go his way and to get physically acclimatised to the demands of the League and I think we have a bit of a player on our hands.

3. PLAYING ON THE FRONT FOOT – Too often of late we have let the opposition have far too much possession in dangerous areas. At Arsenal and with Bolton at home, we let the opposition play to their strengths as they dictated the tempo. Arsenal managed to play the ball through the middle thrice and scored thrice; Bolton managed to fire a plethora of crosses into the box and really were quite unlucky to not score from one of their chances.

We must take the impetus from the beginning and actually play our own game instead of this reactionary/static way we have been playing in recent weeks. Too often we are sitting back and waiting for counter that is not forthcoming. We need to get back to dominating possession and subsequently the middle of the park. Lampard will help with this effective possession, but Essien also needs to use his broad shoulders to start taking more responsibility.

If Drogba continues to improve, Malouda’s scoring boots remain on and Anelka/Sturridge/Kalou contributes, there is a real chance we can start to create the amount of chances that ensure we start to convert them.

Firstly, we must limit the amount of times Villa get in and around our byline and secondly, we need to expose the lack of pace in the Villa centre-back pairing as often as possible (by counterattacking/using our own width), we should come out of the game with all three points. If we take the game to Villa we will win. I have no doubt that our form is slowly returning, but we will need to supplement the squad in January if we are to really push on and compete for the title.

If our first eleven manage to play the majority of the season without injury or suspension, we have a real shot. Momentum is utterly vital though.

THE TEAM:

Given Villa’s salient strength combines pace and width, I would plump for Bosingwa to start ahead of Paulo in the right back berth. Bruma is likely to start the game at centre back and you cannot overstate the test of his credentials that Gabriel Agbonlahor will provide. Bruma needs to adopt the Gallas/Carvalho role, acting as the sweeper for Terry to attack the ball/the man when it is played direct to the Villa front line.

At this stage in his career he needs to concentrate of being a defender first and then a ball player. Cech and Bosingwa must communicate with him at all times to ensure that he does not go wandering. I am eagerly looking forward to seeing him in action in a competitive game and glad that Carlo has actually trusted him to start.

Ramires simply needs to pick up from where he left the game at Bolton, looking good and providing the sort of performance that you would expect for his price tag and reputation. Essien’s inner bison needs to be released once more, winning the personal battles with Reo-Coker and Petrov as/when they emerge.

One crunching tackle or piece of play will lift the crowd/the side and I am looking to him as the catalyst for the tempo. Frank needs to keep looking to improve his match sharpness, pick up the ball and pop it around the park. Anything from Frank will be a bonus at the moment, all things considered.

The front three needs to perform to some modicum of their combined talents. I personally would pick someone other than Anelka to start, he has been lackadaisical of late and with Sturridge on the bench I would prefer the directness he provides.

This is a game we should really be looking to win if we are serious about getting our title defence back on track. If the tempo is there, this should be quite straightforward: I am going for a 2-0 win.

Never an easy place to go, Villa, as our record over the last ten matches shows.  Yet with two strikes of the woodwork in the second half, should we have come away with all three points?

The team lined up as Ancelotti had stated a day before kick-off, with options for changes limited at best due to the withdrawal of Didier Drogba due to a virus, Lampard still not recovering from his hernia op, and Alex, Benayoun, Kalou and Sturridge all either injured, or not match fit.

So it was left to those who were able to play and a smattering of youth players on the bench to try and do what many teams before them had failed to do, and that was take three points at Villa park.

Chelsea lined up in their familiar 4-3-3 with Gael Kakuta getting his first league start up front with Anelka and Malouda, supported by Mikel, Essien and Ramires in the middle.  Terry played, despite a stiff back, as did Ashley Cole, obviously not feeling any effects from a nasty tackle whilst on England duty.

The game certainly started lively enough with Villa looking to get some joy down our right hand side, with Ferreira at right back and Ivanovic in the middle, it could have been a much tougher challenge had Stephen Ireland made the most of a Villa break in the opening minutes as Downing’s played a ball through for the Irishman, who could only chip it wide past the onrushing Petr Cech.

However it was Chelsea who then took the ascendancy and started to play with purpose and possession. This wasn’t to last however, as once the opening five minutes had passed, both teams seemed to settle into a lethargic style of play, with neither really finding any rhythm or purpose to their play, with many missed passes and wayward shots.

Cech was called upon to make a couple of saves, one of them fingertip and preventing a certain goal, and at the other end Essien, Kakuta and Malouda all had trouble keeping shots on target, not even testing the Villa keeper.

Half time came and went, and we all hoped for a more entertaining second half, and it duly came.  A switch saw Kakuta replaced by Zhirkov and Chelsea were on the attack, with far more fluidity and intent than had been shown in the previous half.

Anelka should have done better after a counter attack saw some lovely play, but the Frenchman shot high and wide, and Ivanovic was denied a goal when his brilliant header from a corner struck the woodwork and bounced to safety.

In the final ten minutes Chelsea stepped up a gear and had Villa camped in their own half, and with only two minutes left a floated cross from the left saw Anelka beat his man but header into the ground, and the ball bounced up onto the crossbar and away to safety.

There were however some positives, namely that we came away with one point more than last season with a weakened team, and also the return of Bosingwa, after almost exactly a year out of the game. McEachran also looked impressive, continuing to raise his stock amongst blues supporters, and neutrals alike.

Ancelotti spoke after the match; “We didn’t start so well, we conceded two chances to score on the counter attack, we wanted to start differently. Second half was very good, we played very well. We tried to score but weren’t able to score.”

The Italian added; “We showed in the second half we deserved to win but Aston Villa played a good game, had some chances to score and for this reason the score was fair. We knew it was a difficult game, it is a difficult atmosphere here. Last year we lost, this year we did better. It was a good result for us at this point of the season, we maintained top of the league.”

Speaking of his depleted squad, he said; “All the players with injuries are important players but the players who played today played a good game, everyone did their best. I am not complaining about the injury of my players. But I think Kalou, Sturridge and Alex will be able to play on Tuesday.”

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ferreira (Bosingwa 76), Ivanovic, Terry (c), Cole; Essien, Mikel, Ramires (McEachran 76), Kakuta (Zhirkov h-t), Anelka, Malouda.

As the injury problems at Chelsea finally looking like we’re over the worst, yesterday brought more bad news in the shape of our super striker, Didier Drogba, due to a fever.

With Benayoun now looking like he’ll miss the majority of the season, and with Kalou, Alex & Lampard all still not yet ready for first team action, the Villa match sees us play something of a ‘weakened’ team for our trip to the Midlands.

The last time we met in the league, Chelsea ran out 7-1 winners thanks to a hat-trick from Lampard, a brace from Malouda and one from Kalou, with Carew netting the only goal for the visitors.

Ancelotti named his team yesterday, stating that the line up will be Cech, Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Essien, Mikel, Kakuta, Malouda and Anelka, meaning the subs bench will certainly contain a few younger players such as Van Aanholt, Bruma, Borini, McEachran & possibly Mellis alongside Zhirkov and the returning Bosingwa.

Speaking ahead of the match, Ancelotti spoke of Terry’s return from the injury that kept him out of England’s mid-week match; “This is a different moment, he is not 100 per cent, no. He had a problem with his back and tried to train, and it wasn’t perfect. I’ll ask him if he’s fit to play, but he is in my team at the moment. But Villa are dangerous from set pieces because they have good jumpers.”

“Today we can speak about injuries but in three days it is different, maybe just Lampard or Drogba,” he added. “We can do nothing about Drogba, it is a fever, and the problem of Sturridge, a knock on his ankle during the game.”

When asked about his subs he said; “On the bench we have a goalkeeper, Turnbull, we have Bosingwa, Zhirkov, Van Aanholt, McEachran, and we have to choose from Borini or Mellis. Bruma is our fourth centre-back, and tomorrow he will be on the bench.”

He added; “I am not forced to use them, I think we need to have this quality, we have trust. Tomorrow we have Kakuta and I trust Kakuta. Everyone says McEachran is a fantastic player, I am not complaining about this, I am happy.”

Villa striker Emile Heskey is a doubt due to shin and calf problems. John Carew is set to get the nod if Heskey fails a fitness test. New Villa boss Gérard Houllier raised a smile amongst many blues supporters, and many neutrals too, claiming that Heskey is as good as Didier Drogba!

The Frenchman said; “Drogba is a fantastic centre-forward, probably the best in the world. He’s got everything. He can score by himself, be on the end of crosses, head the ball, take free-kicks, and he works very hard for the team. Emile has got some attributes that look like Didier, but he doesn’t seem to use them. When he uses them, he’s the centre-forward you saw in the last few games.”

With Chelsea four points clear of our closest rivals in the league, we will remain top no matter what happens this weekend, however we must guard against complacency and hope that, with the players we have missing, their replacements step up to the plate, and make sure of another three points.

You can follow our Twitter feed for live updates during the match.

Chelsea’s defence of the FA Cup reaches a pivotal stage at Wembley, with the semi final against Aston Villa. Still smarting from their 7-1 crushing at the hands of the Blues a few weeks ago, Villa must produce something altogether improved if they are to figure in the final come May.

For Villa, James Milner is under an injury cloud, as is Richard Dunne, though the former is expected to play. It has to be remember that before the 7-1 match, O’Neill sold a dummy that many of his experienced players were injured – all but Heskey played.

There are no new worries for Chelsea, who are buoyed by the news that Branislav Ivanovic may well feature as a substitute. Nonetheless, the right back position is in safe hands with the wonderfully consistent Paulo Ferreira showing the form of old, having finally been granted an opportunity to impress.

Chelsea and Villa have clashed seven times in the FA Cup, with Villa winning four of those clashes. However, Chelsea have won the most recent two, the most recent being the 2000 Final at the Old Wembley Stadium. Roberto di Matteo scored the winner in the 72nd minute after David James flapped at the corner.

Ladbrokes has installed Chelsea as strong 4/7 favourites, with the draw paying 11/4. Villa are at long odds to turn over the Cup holders, at 5/1.