CHELSEA F.C BLOG: PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: ASTON VILLA V CHELSEA

TALKING POINTS
So, where were we? Oh yes: top!

With Didier Drogba setting up both goals in the excellent 2-0 win over Liverpool before the long international break, some people may think it strange that Hilario earned the match broadcaster's man of the match accolade.

John Terry, Ashley Cole and Michael Essien were other candidates. But sentiment ruled that the Portuguese, who stepped in for suspended no.1 Petr Cech, should be anointed for his two great stops, one in each half, and general safe-handling throughout.

If we can set aside the penalty at Wigan, which was not of his making, the Portuguese stalwart has kept a clean sheet in his last five appearances over three seasons and his concentration in crucial moments was decisive.

Which brings us again to the number of corners the Blues are earning and conceding this campaign.

KEY STAT
Chelsea have been awarded 80 corners in eight league games compared to Villa's 36 in seven.

Liverpool and APOEL are the only sides to have outstripped Chelsea on the corner kick count; even in the defeat atWigan we had seven to the hosts' four. More usually it has been something of a mismatch. Against Spurs it was 11 to us and three to them. Hull was 12-4, Stoke 14-4, Burnley 10-1, and best of all, at Sunderland it was 14-1.

Dominating set-piece statistics is an indication of dominance and all very well, but the Blues are not converting many corners into goals at the moment, with just two headed goals.

That shows there is vast potential for improvement, despite the good shooting form of the main strikers.

Drogba's six league goals have the perfect split: three home, three away; three in the first half, three the second. He has scored in five of the eight league games to date, has six assists to his name and two of his set-plays have led to goals this season.

Nicolas Anelka has scored in his last three matches against Villa, including our two meetings last season. The only league opponents against whom he has notched more than the six versus Villa (including two penalties) are Arsenal, Everton (both seven goals) and Blackburn (ten).

However, it is now six Barclays Premier League games without a goal for Frank Lampard, nine in all competitions. Disastrous! Except that Frank went ten games goalless last season, in between hitting the net against Sunderland in November and West Brom on Boxing Day - and still managed 20 goals overall. After the drought comes the deluge. Don't forget, either, that Frank has weighed in with four league assists.

How good a motivator is Martin O'Neill? Villa were third in February last year when this fixture arose, but a 1-0 Chelsea win meant the Blues leapfrogged them from fourth; Villa managed just two more wins in a run-in that saw them fade away to a sixth place finish. Does the Irishman's magic dust wear off from January?

His side had accrued 35 points from the first 19 games, but only managed 27 over the remainder, 62 in total. Both run-ins prior to that his Villa team could only match, not better, their first-half points tally: in his first at Villa Park, 2006/7, they had 25 from 19 games, 50 from the whole 38; in 2007/8 it was 30 from 19; 60 from 38.

Raw points totals also suggest that Leicester City under O'Neill generally faded in the second half of the Premier League season. It is Chelsea's task to start the decline early on a surface that has not always been the most rewarding.

Of course, this weekend's venue has also played its part as in Chelsea's cup history. In four semi-finals there between 1964 and 1996 the Blues lost three and won one. The four games either side produced three wins and a draw, including the 1-0 win over Fulham in 2002.

Steve Sidwell is set to play against his former club. Steve will maybe feel he did not get the breaks he needed in his time at Stamford Bridge, but he was hard-working and honest and remains positive about the spell. He should be well received by travelling supporters.

With the early start, Chelsea could go five points clear before Manchester United kick off. The Mancs host one of their pushover neighbours at 3pm, with a repeat of the upsets of 2001 and 2002 unlikely.

Liverpool's trip at the same time to Sunderland, the league's third-highest goalscorers at home, might prove more troublesome, especially if Steven Gerrard has not recovered from whatever it was that kept him out of

England

's midweek match.

Those considering a sneaky wager on Birmingham might note they have not won at Arsenal since 1957. Which Wigan will turn up at home to Man City? The one that battered Chelsea's midfield, or the usual one, that succumbs meekly.

Barclays Premier League fixtures
Saturday
Aston Villa v Chelsea 12.45pm - Sky Sports
Arsenal v Birmingham 3pm
Everton v Wolves 3pm
Man Utd v Bolton 3pm
Portsmouth v Tottenham 3pm
Stoke v West Ham 3pm
Sunderland v Liverpool 3pm
Sunday
Blackburn v Burnley 1pm - Sky Sports
Wigan v Man City 4pm - Sky Sports
Monday
Fulham v Hull 8pm - ESPN

Barclays Premier League top scorers
Torres (Liverpool) 8
Bent (Sunderland) 7
Drogba (Chelsea) 6
Rooney (Man Utd) 6
Defoe (Tottenham) 5
Jones (Sunderland) 5
Keane (Tottenham) 5
Saha (Everton) 5

Barclays Premier League table
Top		Pld	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	8	12	21
2	Man Utd	8	11	19
3	Tottenham	8	7	16
4	Man City	7	7	16
5	Arsenal	7	14	15
6	Liverpool	8	10	15
7	Aston Villa	7	4	13
8	Sunderland	8	3	13
9	Burnley	8	-9	12
10	Everton	7	-2	10