MX23RW : Thursday, December 12 22:18:04| >> :120:11827:11827:

Preview: Aston Villa vs. Chelsea

Aston Villa host Chelsea at Villa Park on Saturday in a bid to push themselves up the table.

Aston Villa will hope to clinch their second victory in seven games as they come up against Chelsea on home turf.

Alex McLeish will be without Charles N'Zogbia as the winger continues to deal with a knee injury, which could lead the way for Marc Albrighton to provide service for loan striker Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Meanwhile, Roberto Di Matteo is likely to stick to his rotation policy and bring in Gary Cahill to partner John Terry in defence with Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa placed in the full-back spots.

Didier Drogba is also likely to re-enter the starting XI to replace Fernando Torres after being benched for the Blues' 1-0 win over Benfica in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday.

Current form:

Aston Villa: LLDDWL
Chelsea: WWWLDW

Possible lineups:

Aston Villa: Given; Lichaj, Collins Cuellar, Warnock; Herd, Bannan, Ireland, Albrighton; Agbonlahor, Weimann

Chelsea: Cech; Bosingwa, Terry, Cahill, Cole; Ramires, Essien, Lampard, Mata; Sturridge, Drogba

Sports Mole says: 1-2

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Written by
Danielle Joynson

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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool14112129111835
2Chelsea1594235181731
3Arsenal1585229151429
4Manchester CityMan City158342721627
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest157441918125
6Aston Villa157442323025
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton156632522324
8Bournemouth157352320324
9Brentford157263128323
10Fulham156542220223
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1562731191220
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle155551921-220
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd155461918119
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham155372028-818
15Everton143561421-714
16Leicester CityLeicester153572130-914
17Crystal Palace152761420-613
18Ipswich TownIpswich151681427-139
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1523102338-159
20Southampton1512121131-205


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