“Get a result” – Paul Merson previews and predicts Aston Villa vs Chelsea | OneFootball

We have another round of Premier League games this midweek, and Paul Merson has been on the predictions again.

I always like to check in on what Merson is predicting because I always find his calls to be fairly accurate. Obviously, none of us can predict the future, but Merson is not often too far out with his calls overall.

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This week, he is predicting all the latest round of Premier League games in his latest article for Sportskeeda.

Villa away is a huge game now for both clubs as they fight to try and finish in the Champions League places. It almost has a feeling of being quite a decisive game on that front even though we still have a fair chunk of games left to play.

Merson calls it

Liam Rosenior speaks to the media after Chelsea’s loss to Arsenal.

Merson wrote:

‘Chelsea weren’t great in the first half against Arsenal. But in the second half, for 25 minutes or so, they dominated the game. It even looked like they might win. Discipline kicked them in the back again though. Such a bad red card for Pedro Neto.

‘I still think Chelsea are playing well enough to get a result in this game. If Chelsea can win here, it’s game on in the race for top five! If they lose, it’s the end of it for them. Nine points behind Aston Villa with nine games to go? I think it is just too many to make up.

‘If Villa beat Chelsea, I think that will be enough for them to finish inside the top five and qualify for the Champions League. Even if they get beat by Manchester United in their next league game, they would still be at least six points ahead of Chelsea with just eight matches left.

‘I have a feeling Manchester United and Liverpool will finish inside the top five. Whoever loses this game, will have it difficult in my opinion.

‘Chelsea will have to trust Alejandro Garnacho in the absence of Pedro Neto. I don’t like playing Cole Palmer out wide because he’s more effective down the middle. Estevao is injured. So who else have they got?

‘Villa are not playing well at the moment. I fancy Chelsea.’

Prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea.

In other news today…

Matt Law of The Telegraph reported earlier this week that Chelsea are “making it clear” to their players that booking for dissent won’t be tolerated anymore.

Chelsea don’t have long to stew over their defeat – they’re back in action against Aston Villa on Wednesday night, and have some important players close to returning to action.

Check out the latest edition of Simon Phillips’ SPTC podcast here: