Aston Villa v Chelsea: Drogba to return to be among the goals

Didier Drogba has enjoyed playing Aston Villa in recent seasons and he can continue his fine scoring record against them with the opener at Villa Park at 4/1.

Having been left out of the midweek Champions League victory in Benfica, Drogba is likely to be recalled for Chelsea’s trip to Villa Park at the expense of Fernando Torres.

This would appear a wise move by Roberto Di Matteo as Drogba has found the target in each of his last four appearances in all competitions against Aston Villa.

Chelsea’s odds are 10/11 to beat Aston Villa and they have two big reasons to secure the three points.

Firstly, they cannot afford to drop too many more points as they have five points to make up to break into the top four and only eight games in which to do it.

Furthermore, they will want to make amends for a shock defeat at Stamford Bridge against Aston Villa from earlier in the season.

The chances of the hosts are additionally not helped by injuries to first-team trio Darren Bent, Charles N’Zogbia and Alan Hutton.

Villa are 3/1 to do the double over Chelsea and have only been beaten in one of their last 12 Premier League games at home to the opposition.

However, this success over Chelsea remains the only points they have taken off the current top five in the Premier League standings all season.

The draw can be backed at 12/5 and this could be good value given the difficulties Chelsea have winning at Villa Park and the pressure placed on their squad at present given a full fixture list.

Meanwhile, Villa have triumphed in just one of their last eight Premier League home games and Chelsea have an identical record when considering their away fixtures.