Chelsea v Aston Villa - Three points a must again.

This afternoon Chelsea take on Aston Villa knowing that United, Arsenal, City and Spurs have all won their games yesterday. The pressure is mounting once again and Chelsea need to come out and show us all they have turned a corner. They do it without Branislav Ivanovic and John Obi Mikel. I expect Jeffrey Bruma to replace Ivanovic and Ramires to play alongside Frank Lampard with Michael Essien dropping into the holding role.

Villa come into the game after losing their two games over the festive period first against Spurs and then a heavy defeat at Manchester City. With Emile Heskey and Ashley Young all set to return to the starting line up today Villa will look to get back on track and will see a weakened Chelsea back four at Stamford Bridge as the ideal place to start.

For Chelsea, it has to be about nothing less than a win. Right now because of the results and form of the others around us, it's about getting three points when that final whistle goes no matter how well we have played. Of course we all want to see Chelsea playing well, playing a high tempo and in our usual flowing attacking style. Bolton was a massive step even though it took us time and Carlo and the boys will be looking to maintain the level of second half performance shown against Bolton for the whole game today.

Chelsea need their big names to stand up tomorrow, need them to grab the rest of the side and carry them through this difficult time and to take Chelsea forward. We simply cannot afford for anyone to be below par.

There will be pressure on Bruma tomorrow but I believe he is up to it. He will face his biggest test in Emile Heskey as after being reunited with Gerard Houllier, Heskey has found his goalscoring boots once more. Always a threat in the air, Chelsea will need to make sure they deal with him. Let's hope Bruma can cope.

I expect Bosingwa to start against Villa as Carlo will look for Chelsea to attack Villa who could be suffering with a lack of confidence like ourselves. Florent Malouda, fresh from his goal against Bolton (and we all saw how much it meant to him) will look to carry on today and after being disappointing for a while in my opinion, his goal could spark a revival of the form of the front three.

If we are to win this game we need to get possession of the ball early, impose our style of play on the game, play at a higher tempo and pressurise Villa when they have the ball. If we can dominate possession then expect Chelsea to create more chances then they have in recent weeks and it will then be down to our forward line to take them.

With Villa struggling, Chelsea with our first win under our belts and some confidence back, I can only see this being a second win for us in the space of a couple of days and that's no disrespect to Villa.

Chelsea know what they have to do this afternoon and I expect them to do it!.

Carefree & KTBFFH

Chelsea fans! Why not go and try the brand new Indian Restaurant in Fulham Broadway The MASALA ZONE before or after the game today.

Why not grab a Curry, Rice and a beer for just £12!!

The Masala Zone has been awarded the following accreditations:

Best Restaurateur of the Year - Tatler Award
Amaya: Best Restaurant & Best New Restaurant - London Restaurant Awards
Chutney Mary: Best Indian Restaurant - London Restaurant Award
Veeraswamy: Britain's Oldest Indian Restaurant - Established 1926
Masala Zone: "10/10 for food, service & value for money" The Guardian

So if you need food before or after the game then why not head to The Masala Zone (opposite Barclays Bank) and please mention you have seen this advert on my website "Chelseadaft" for me when you go in. 

The Masala Zone - Real Indian Food!

KTBFFH!

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