Aston Villa v Chelsea Match Thread

[Uknowthescore]

Is it bad to bet on a Chelsea win too soften the blow when the inevitable happens.

[manic-road]

Luiz our best player by miles again so far

I thought he was in the last game as well.

[paul_e]

What a weird first half.  For long periods it not only looked like we weren't going to score but also that we didn't want to.  And then one brilliant ball in and we're ahead.  I would normally say I hope we don't drop deeper in the second half but that's not physically possible.

It was a great ball in especially as Grealish sent him a hospital pass.

I thought the pass from Jack was perfectly weighted because it drew the defender in to try to steal the ball rather than him trying to block the cross.

[Steve67]

Luiz our best player by miles again so far

Agreed.  Played well so far, watch him get the half-time hook!! lol.  Come on Villa.  Defensively much better but keep working really hard to stop the ball from being crossed in.

[Holte132]

3 minutes??

It's a couple of minutes for the drinks break, isn't it?

[Mister E]

For me it looks like the plan was to let them have the ball until they got into our 3rd and then to close them tight not let them get shots away and then to try to play off Davis on the counter...

This would be fine if players were able to get up to pick up the second ball, but we're not supporting Davis. The players are neither quick enough or fit enough, it seems.

[Steve67]

Great celebration from John Terry!! not. I thought I saw a sigh!

[David_Nab]

Also Hause is winning so many balls in the air especially from corners fair play to him having a good game so far.

[cdbearsfan]

In fairness he was probably waiting for a dubious VAR call, like I was.

[Ads]

HT. Fully deserved we've been all over them.

I know you're taking the piss but can you think of a good chance they've created for all their possession? Flip this game around and everyone on here would be moaning about us having no cutting edge and not working hard enough going forward.

For me it looks like the plan was to let them have the ball until they got into our 3rd and then to close them tight not let them get shots away and then to try to play off Davis on the counter. It isn't pretty and doesn't create many chances for us but it's worked so far because we've scored and had the best chance before that.

I think we've decided to constrict the space between the defence and midfield. They've only played through us once and that was Mount doing Hourihane.

We've gifted a lot of territory and ball and decided to gamble on dealing with the percentage ball in.

[nigel]

I'd have Conner off for Marv , we need more legs out there at the moment

He only got two as well 

[Ad@m]

Great celebration from John Terry!! not. I thought I saw a sigh!

It's not like he's hidden his love for Chelsea. He's hardly likely to run down the touchline jumping up and down.

[cdbearsfan]

Oh great, some Liverpool chat.

[Proposition Joe]

Even though we are 1-0 I don't understand the setup. If the tactics were to defend and defend and try to nick something later, why waste McGinn (for example) doing that? He'll be knackered when we need to push late game. Same with Jack or El Ghazi tbh.

The goal out of nowhere probably means 45mins of 15% possession now.

For once, bring this home Villa.

[Damo70]

Is there a new rule that's been passed that says that all Sky Sports presenters have to wear trainers with massive white soles?

'White Soles Matter'