Follow every kick as Chelsea take on Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League
on 27-Mar-2010, kick off time 15:00
Chelsea v Aston Villa Live
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Chelsea welcome Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge on Saturday and Carlo Ancelotti's men should be in confident mood after their thumping win at Portsmouth on Wednesday evening.
The Blues smashed Avram Grant's side 5-0, with Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba at the double.
Frank Lampard nodded home a late fifth to put the pressure on Manchester United at the top of the table.
They now trail the Red Devils by a single point and a win against the Villans would certainly turn the heat on their nearest rivals ahead of their highly anticipated clash next weekend at Old Trafford.
Chelsea seem to have put their Champions League loss to Internazionale out of their system and another three points at Stamford Bridge is a must.
Martin O'Neill and his men have Champions League qualification aspirations of their own but back-to-back draws against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sunderland has made their quest that bit more difficult.
They now trail fourth placed Tottenham Hotspur by four points and occupy seventh spot in the table.
Ancelotti will have to do without Branislav Ivanovic for a further month after picking up a knee ligament injury.
Ashley Cole has returned to light training after his fractured ankle and Michael Essien's knee problem will keep him out.
Goalkeeper Hilario (groin) could make the bench, but full-back Jose Bosingwa (knee) is unlikely to return before the end of the campaign.
O'Neill has an almost full-strength squad to choose from with Nigel Reo-Coker (ankle) his only absentee.
Chelsea will be striving to gain revenge on Villa after their surprising 2-1 loss at Villa Park on October 17.
Drogba's fortunate opener was cancelled out by Richard Dunne's leveller and fellow defender James Collins powered home to grab all three points for the hosts.
Last season's clash at Stamford Bridge ended in a 2-0 success for the home side with Joe Cole and Nicolas Anelka scoring the goals.
But their clash on Boxing Day during the 2007-08 season is one that remains in the memory.
They shared an eight-goal thriller in the capital and it was Villa who threatened to upstage their big-spending opponents, who boasted a 71-game unbeaten record at the Bridge.
Shaun Maloney's double shocked the Blues, but an Andriy Shevchenko penalty after Zat Knight received his marching orders for bringing down Michael Ballack on the stroke of half-time reduced the deficit.
The Ukraine star grabbed his second five minutes after the re-start before Alex put them in the lead for the first time.
Martin Laursen then equalised and Ballack scored to make it 4-3 with just three minutes to go.
However, there was still time for referee Phil Dowd to award a second penalty of the exciting contest, this time to Villa and Gareth Barry made no mistake in injury time to grab a share of the spoils.
Source: DSG
