Chelsea have been warned by Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill that his side are out to do the double over them and dent their English Premier League title hopes.
O’Neill’s team had beaten Chelsea at Villa Park, their first defeat of the season
LONDON: Chelsea have been warned by Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill that his side are out to do the double over them on Wednesday and dent their English Premier League title hopes.
The third-placed Blues could fall nine points behind leaders Arsenal if Villa beat them for the second time this season in the Boxing Day holiday clash at Stamford Bridge.
Villa, in eighth place and seven points behind Chelsea, sent the Blues crashing to their first defeat of the season with a shock 2-0 win at Villa Park in September. “To do the double over Chelsea would be gigantic for us. They’re a quality side and to beat them would be big,” said O’Neill. “We shouldn’t be downhearted — we should be going there with plenty of confidence and we will take them on. We’re capable of taking the game to them and we’ll cause them problems — as they will us.”
Chelsea are set to deploy their Portuguese third-choice goalkeeper Hilario, due to number one Petr Cech’s bruised hip. Hilario was thrown into his first game in nearly a year when the Czech keeper limped out of the 1-0 win at Blackburn on Sunday.
Second-choice goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini is out with a rib injury. “Massive credit to Hilario,” said Chelsea’s England midfielder Frank Lampard. “He hasn’t played in the first team for a long time. He is a great professional who keeps his head down and trains hard every day.”
The Blues are already without two key players. Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba, who is recovering from a knee injury, plus club captain John Terry. The England defender is out until February with a broken foot.
Lampard said Chelsea were nonetheless determined to keep up the pressure on Arsenal and second-place Manchester United in the title race.
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