Chelsea welcome Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge on Saturday (today) as the clubs’ managers look to hit back after some early trouble in the Premier League.
The Blues go into the game off the back of a shock 3-1 home defeat to Southampton, while Tim Sherwood’s charges have now lost four in a row.
Jose Mourinho comes into this fixture looking to protect his honour of never being beaten in two consecutive home matches during his managerial career in the Premier League.
The current champions have not had this bad a start for 37 years, when they previously picked up five points from their first eight games during the 1978-79 season before finishing bottom of Division One.
Many of Chelsea’s problems have come at the back, and Mourinho might just look to try some different personnel out in different positions today.
Right-back Branislav Ivanovic has come in for some criticism this term, but his injury could see Mourinho provide a chance for usual centre-back Kurt Zouma to show his abilities in the full-back position.
Mourinho has been given the backing of the club’s board despite claiming just eight points from eight games, and he will be looking to kick-start a winning run to help stave off some undeniably mounting pressure.
The prospect of Villa possibly presents the Chelsea boss with his most manageable of visits to Stamford Bridge in the early part of the season, and the Blues will be hopeful of notching only their second home win from the five chances presented come the end of the weekend.
Mourinho will be looking to the club’s home win over Arsenal as a solid template to work from given that they appeared both defensively and offensively adroit during that encounter, although Chelsea fans will arguably be a tad apprehensive given that they have conceded five goals in the two games since that win last month.
The Blues go into the game off the back of a shock 3-1 home defeat to Southampton, while Tim Sherwood’s charges have now lost four in a row.
Jose Mourinho comes into this fixture looking to protect his honour of never being beaten in two consecutive home matches during his managerial career in the Premier League.
The current champions have not had this bad a start for 37 years, when they previously picked up five points from their first eight games during the 1978-79 season before finishing bottom of Division One.
Many of Chelsea’s problems have come at the back, and Mourinho might just look to try some different personnel out in different positions today.
Right-back Branislav Ivanovic has come in for some criticism this term, but his injury could see Mourinho provide a chance for usual centre-back Kurt Zouma to show his abilities in the full-back position.
Mourinho has been given the backing of the club’s board despite claiming just eight points from eight games, and he will be looking to kick-start a winning run to help stave off some undeniably mounting pressure.
The prospect of Villa possibly presents the Chelsea boss with his most manageable of visits to Stamford Bridge in the early part of the season, and the Blues will be hopeful of notching only their second home win from the five chances presented come the end of the weekend.
Mourinho will be looking to the club’s home win over Arsenal as a solid template to work from given that they appeared both defensively and offensively adroit during that encounter, although Chelsea fans will arguably be a tad apprehensive given that they have conceded five goals in the two games since that win last month.
Chelsea possible starting lineup: Begovic; Azpilicueta, Terry, Cahill, Zouma; Matic, Fabregas; Hazard, Willian, Pedro; Costa.
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Guzan; Amavi, Lescott, Richards, Hutton; Gueye, Westwood, Veretout; Grealish, Gestede, Ayew
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