Chelsea aim to extend unbeaten run in EPL, face Aston Villa next

 

London: Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea will aim to extend their unbeaten start to the Premier League season and inconvenience one of their early rivals when Aston Villa visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday. 

 

 

Few people expected Villa to figure so prominently towards the top of the division, but having edged Championship side Bolton Wanderers 2-1 in the League Cup on Wednesday, Chelsea are in the groove.And with a number of senior players, including in-form striker Diego Costa, set to return to the line-up after being rested, confidence is running high among Mourinho’s players.

 

“It’s great to have a winning mentality,” said centre-back Gary Cahill.

“If you have a couple of sticky results, it puts the pressure on going into games, but at the moment we’re unbeaten, we’re going well, and we should have confidence, especially playing in front of our own fans at Stamford Bridge,” he added.

 

Villa remain without star striker Christian Benteke, but he has returned to training training following an Achilles injury and will be considered for next weekend’s game against City.

The Belgian has missed the last five months, including the World Cup, and manager Paul Lambert said: “He’s getting closer. Next week we will see how he is for the Man City game.

 

“I’m not saying he’ll start, or anything, but he’s certainly getting close. Christian’s all right. He’s had a good week of training under his belt. We will just look at it next week,” Lambert added. Skipper Ron Vlaar will miss out on Saturday due to a calf complaint.