Chelsea v Aston Villa Pre-Match Thread

[PaulWinch again]

Expecting us to get hammered, I hope I'm wrong.

[Hadley83]

I think we will win, we are due one and they aren't anywhere near as good as last year. I'm also hoping that my first prediction in this thread will bring me luck.

2 nil villa, with Ireland getting one.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I think their first goal will be banged in after a mere 2 minutes.

[citizenDJ]

I just had the thought that 'a low-scoring defeat this afternoon wouldn't be too bad'.

God, that's depressing.

[Dribbler]

A defeat today will leave us with the worst goal difference in the league. I've supported Houllier up until a few days ago but having read a few statistics i'm very worried, as these would seem to show there are fundamental problems, especially in defence, which was one of the best in the league last year.

Second highest number of goals conceeded in the premiership
Joint least amount of points gained in away games in the premiership
Fourth least amount of goals scored in the premiership
Least amount of away goals scored in the whole league

Houllier has got to get at the very least 5 points from the next 3 games or he should be sacked. 0-0 would be a good result today, we need to keep a tight defensive ship though i doubt we can do it. Our defensive coaching is obviously useless and 3 or 4 games ago Houllier said that we needed to stop conceeding goals, and we've conceeded 10 in the last 4.

 

[PaulWinch again]

At the very least the players should have some sort of professional pride and they need to do a lot better.

[ez]

It'll be like watching Casualty. You know its going to be unpleasant viewing sooner or later.

[Clampy]

I think their first goal will be banged in after a mere 2 minutes.

I think that might be the problem if that happens. An early goal like against Man City and the heads might drop. We've got an decent record against Chelsea though, which is making me a bit more optimistic than i probably should be.

[Dazvillain]

oh shit only an hour to go

[villa1]

If we lose, we lose. Fair enough, as long as I see a bit of fight and pride in the shirt.

[TimTheVillain]

There's something quite masochistic about watching Villa these days ...

[RonBurgundy]

Anyone else watch via Villastreams? the website appears down which could scupper my viewing.

I'm wondering whether this could actually be a good thing...

[Jimbo]

We'll lose, but it's the manner in which we lose today that'll be most important. If we battle and give our all, then we can't really complain. If we roll over again, then it'll be another stick to beat Houllier with. I genuinely hope we're not beating on Houllier come three o'clock.