Aston Villa vs Chelsea – Saturday 7th January, 15:00
Aston Villa host top of the league Chelsea this Saturday and will be looking to bounce back to goalscoring ways this weekend after scoring just one goal in their last eight Premier League matches.
Villa do possess a lot of direct runners in attack, including Andreas Weimann, and should really be able to pose a threat to the opposition goal. Weimann has completed the 17th most sprints in the Premier League this season with 1,212, averaging out at 55.1 sprints per game, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
As well as Weimann, Gabby Agbonlahor is another player with an abundance of pace, and should he put that to use against Chelsea he could cause some problems. Agbonlahor has run at the 15th fastest speed of any player in the division so far this season, being clocked running at 34.8km/h (21.6mph) according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Agbonlahor is 12/1 to score first with 888sport.com.
Villa do also possess the eleventh most successful tackler of any midfielders in the Premier league. Tom Cleverley has successfully won 55 tackles, which also ranks him inside the top 20 players of any position for tackling. Cleverley has won 72.4% of his tackles according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
It is looking increasingly unlikely that Cesc Fabregas, Filipe Luis or John Obi Mikel will return from injury this weekend, and there are also fresh concerns for Willian’s fitness, in addition to Diego Costa’s suspension. This could provide an opportunity for new signing Juan Cuadrado to make his Premier League bow against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Kurt Zouma has impressed lately, so much so that he appears to be establishing himself as part of Chelsea’s first choice central defensive partnership, alongside John Terry. In the 226 minutes of Premier League football that Zouma has played, he won 100% of his attempted tackles (6/6) and made four interceptions, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
In front of him, Nemanja Matic continues to shield the defence, and according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, Matic has made the most tackles in the entire division, winning the ball 86 times so far this season. As well as this, Matic has covered the second most ground in the Premier League, running a total distance of 257.2km so far this season, which is just over 2km less than Christian Eriksen, who has played a game more than Matic.
Ahead of Matic, the man who continues to stand out in the Chelsea attack, Eden Hazard now has eight goals and six assists, after setting up Loic Remy’s goal against Manchester City last week. Hazard has 109 successful dribbles, which is the most in the league, as well as having the eleventh highest tally of sprints in the division, with 1,254. Hazard is 22/5 to score first with 888sport.com.