Chelsea v Aston Villa: Leaders to end Villans’ road resistance

Wins at Stoke and Liverpool without seeing a goal scored against them have helped place Villa third in the early Premier League table, though a 3-0 pasting at home to Arsenal last time out proved a reality check.

Ladbrokes certainly don’t give Paul Lambert’s side much chance of a third successive away win, labelling them 14/1 shots, the draw 11/2 and a home win as short as 1/5.

Here’s three more bets to ponder for the encounter:

Chelsea to win to nil @ 2/7

Despite their impressive start to the season Villa have been extremely shot shy, landing a league-low five shots on target, which doesn’t bode well at the Bridge.

Although the Chelsea defence has been a little more generous than Mourinho would have liked in the early days of the season, Leicester were kept at bay and Villa’s lack of invention may be exposed.

Draw/Chelsea @ 5/2

Chelsea have been level when the half-time whistle sounds in their last three domestic fixtures, going on to win both of the home games against Bolton and Swansea.

Villa are likely to employ a compact counter-attacking style from the outset which has served them so well at the Britannia and Anfield, where they couldn’t be broken down in either half.

Eden Hazard to score first @ 9/2

The Belgian winger has begun the season in majestic form, weaving his magic from the left flank, where he commits defenders for fun.

Hazard has only notched once thus far though, during that 2-0 win over the Foxes, and judging by his impressive return of 17 goals last season he’s due another.

He never went longer than five appearances without registering for Chelsea during 2013/14, which is the current gap before Villa’s visit.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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