[Football- England 'FA Cup'] 26.1/ 20:45 Chelsea- Aston Villa

[Alex]

[Football- England 'FA Cup'] 26.1/ 20:45 Chelsea- Aston Villa

We return to England for a game between two top half teams in the top flight. Aston Villa under Unai Emery sit 4th in the table while Chelsea, run by Pochettino sit just above the bottom half in 9th. Both teams have been doing relatively well for themselves in recent games (more so Chelsea who have had lots of games in recent days due to Carabao Cup and Premier League slowly starting back up. Aston Villa have been resting for 11 days, although the rest hasn't been exactly perfect with Ollie Watkins picking up an injury that will have him sidelined until early April. Don't get me started on Chelsea's extensive list of injuries either...

The reason I'm going BTTS and Over 2.5 is because both teams have been not the most convincing on defense with each team averaging over 1 goal conceded per match, but the real upside is the average goals per match. Chelsea sit at 1.67 goals per match (according to FotMob) and Aston Villa are at 2.05 goals per match. As we saw earlier in the week, Chelsea have the ability to score, and score a lot. Albeit against a weak Boro side, they were creating chances and capitalizing on chances (is this a turn for a club that had such a dreadful 2023? Let's not get ahead of ourselves). Aston Villa have been resting and planning for this game for over a week and this could benefit Unai Emery, or he could overthink it and shoot himself in the foot with his tactics. Of course, we don't care who gets the win, we just want to see goals.

Chelsea's defense bar Thiago Silva has not been so convincing, mainly because Pochettino has been employing 4 center backs across a back 4 due to Reece James, Malo Gusto, and Chilwell all being injured as of late, with the latter slowly easing his way back into First Team football. If this is the case, Aston Villa's attack could pick apart the defense of Chelsea and more likely than not Chelsea will practically give away a goal. The thing is, we want BTTS, and that's where Cole Palmer comes in. This guy can do it all and he doesn't need help to do it. He makes goals appear out of no where, linking his teammates up but also having flashes of brilliance.

BTTS (Both Teams to Score) @1,85 1xbet

FT 0:0