Chelsea v Aston Villa Pre-Match Thread

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Stuart Atwell is the ref apparently.

The choices are incompetent or dodgy.

We seem to get him a lot considering he's probably a fan of one of our local rivals, and he always finds spurious ways to fuck us over.

Comes from Nuneaton but apparently a Luton fan.

We’ve covered this before but that’s a myth put around initially by Luton supporters because he allowed a “phantom” goal against Watford.

His family are well known in Nuneaton because his father was head of the refs for the amateur league and were season ticket holders at Cov.

It cost Forest a few bob.

Nottingham Forest have lost their appeal against a £750,000 fine for a social media post criticising video assistant referee Stuart Attwell.

They were fined by the Football Association in October for an "attack on the integrity of a match official on an unparalleled scale".

Forest complained on X about three penalty decisions that went against them during a 2-0 Premier League defeat at Everton on 21 April 2024.

Forest's post said they had "warned" referees' body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) that Attwell, who was the VAR for the match, was a fan of relegation rivals Luton, but that "they did not change him", adding: "Our patience has been tested multiple times."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c4g7zye2kqvo

[Crown Hill]

Yea was just saying how it started.

He never comments one way or the other other on who he supports (as with most refs) so that how it took root.

I don’t think he should be allowed to ref Villa games.

[PeterWithesShin]

[Villafirst]

I was hoping at least one of Torres or Mings would be fit by now. Typically this isn't the case. It makes the task harder now. A point would be a good result.

[BoVillan esq]

2-2 I think would be a good result, we stay unbeaten, another point chalked up. Come on Villa

[Dave]

F365's "Big Weekend" section:

Game to watch: Chelsea v Aston Villa

Always looked like it would be the most significant game in the title race over the festive weekend, but only in the last few weeks has it become clear that this is because of Aston Villa’s involvement and not Chelsea’s.

It is, obviously, a huge test of Villa’s stickability; Chelsea may have meekly surrendered their own chances in self-fulfilling fashion once again, but they remain a tough test for a team trying to compete with two giants in Arsenal and Man City.

The actual dynamic of this Saturday evening affair will inevitably be coloured by what Man City and Arsenal themselves have done earlier in the day. Fair to say Villa would at this point settle for a retention of the status quo in terms of their gap to the top two.

And without wishing to pour any rain on Villa’s current parade, it does still bear mentioning that as the second half of the season pans out there is still the possibility/probability that Chelsea emerge as more significant rivals to Villa than the top two anyway in terms of Champions League qualification.

Villa currently lead Enzo Maresca’s side by seven points and while sprinting to keep up with the top two isn’t doing Unai and the lads any harm right now it does feel like a day where, even for a team with 11 wins from their last 12 Premier League games, a draw would be absolutely fine and not in any way necessarily a momentum killer.

Team to watch: Manchester City

Villa are obviously the best team in the country right now, but for the first time in a good while it’s looking like Man City might be second best. They’re certainly playing more convincing football than Arsenal right now, and have another chance to briefly leapfrog their main title rivals and put pressure on a potentially ticklish home game for Arsenal against a Brighton side who so often relish the chance to mess with the bigger boys.

But in order to apply that pressure City must take care of their own business against Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest, a team that can’t quite be described as resurgent but is definitely no longer the pushover of the brief but hilarious Angeball days.

They’ve been alternating between victory and defeat for the last six Premier League games, and the bad news for City is that they’ll arrive at the City Ground at the wrong point in that particular pattern.

The good news for City is that they aren’t currently alternating anything having won each of their last five Premier League games, the last three of them by 3-0 margins and with 17 goals in total across those five games. Which, even after the 3-0 paddling of Tottenham the other week, is still the total number of Premier League goals Forest have managed all season.

Only posted the second bit (and why I spam the place with F365 content), because I thought that in the "they all hate us and don't know how good we are" melancholy, people might get a little kick out of being referred to in The Media in such terms.

[Goldenballs]

I'd take a draw, but think a 2-1 defeat

[eamonn]

Yeah, it feels the opposite to me, that we have a Villa fan working for F365!

[garyellis]

Everyone I chat to (not a Villa fan) thinks we will lose.

[waynejames]

Be interesting what games Attwell refs next season when Cov come back up. I'm sure he is from the Crowhill/Whitestone area of Nuneaton which will be mostly a Cov supporting area

[Crown Hill]

I don’t think he’s ever reffed Cov. Historically and traditionally Nuneaton is a Villa town but there has been a lot of Cov overspill in more recent times.