Chelsea FC hosts Aston Villa in a mid-week Premier League fixture that is overflowing with storylines. Tomorrow night will see the return to Stamford Bridge of John Terry, Chelsea’s most decorated player. The former captain left for Villa in 2017, but not until after having won 11 major honors with current manager Frank Lampard.
Terry then claimed three more honors after the club’s all-time leading scorer left in 2014. You also have Blues striker Tammy Abraham who was sidelined with a hip injury in the loss to West Ham United.
Will he back to face the team that he spent last season on loan with at the Championship division?
There are all kinds of reunions going on in this match. The hosts will also be concerned about the fitness of central defender Antonio Rudiger and midfielder Ross Barkley. The latter had been slated to return a couple games ago, but it didn’t happen and here we are.
Turning to the visitors, right back Frederic Guilbert is suspended for this one after having racked up his fifth Premier League booking in the draw that felt like a win at Old Trafford. Anwar El Ghazi left that 2-2 stalemate due to injury and looks unlikely to be ready for Villa’s next match.
Jed Steer (leg) and Keinan Davis (hamstring) are the only other confirmed absentees for AVFC.
The Blues come into this one 11 points off the pace of league leaders Liverpool, but they still have a six point lead over Tottenham Hotspur for the final spot in the top four; this season’s primary goal for the season.
Young American Christian Pulisic kept his hot streak going at Valencia, but didn’t boss the match in the loss to West Ham.
Chelsea FC vs Aston Villa FYIs
Kickoff: Stamford Bridge, Saturday December 4, 7:30pm
Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Google Result Probability: Chelsea win 74%, Draw 16%, Aston Villa win 10%
Form Guide- Chelsea LLWWW Aston Villa DWLLL
Prediction: Chelsea 3, Aston Villa 1
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.