Paul Merson predicts scoreline of Aston Villa clash v Chelsea
By Kwame Boakye
Former Aston Villa star Paul Merson believes Chelsea will have “too much” for his old side when they clash at Villa Park on Sunday.
Steven Gerrard’s side were only able to claim a point against newly promoted Nottingham Forest on Monday after being held to a 1-1 draw, and in their previous game, they could only muster a goalless stalemate at Leeds United, despite the Whites playing with 10 men for much of the second half.
Villa are unbeaten in their last four league games but are sitting just three points above the drop zone after a lacklustre start to the season. Meanwhile, Chelsea have won both their top-flight matches under new boss Graham Potter and will head to the Midlands full of confidence after their midweek Champions League win over AC Milan.
Merson, who played for Villa between 1998-2002 hailed the impact Potter has made since he arrived in west London and believes they be too strong for the Midlands club this weekend.
Speaking to SportsKeeda, he said: “Graham Potter has quietly and steadily got some phenomenal football results recently, he told Sportskeeda.
“I’d said they had a big week coming up and all of a sudden, they’ve done the business – fair play to them. Chelsea have not got the accolades they’ve deserved, to be honest – they’ve done the double over AC Milan and they beat Wolves comfortably.
“Chelsea were wasteful last week, and could’ve beaten Wolves by any score if they’d taken their chances. Aston Villa will make it hard this week, but Chelsea will have too much for them.”
Next two
Villa are unlikely to pick up any points against Chelsea given their poor recent form and the impressive start that Potter has made, however, it’s not against the likes of the Blues that their season will be judged.
Their following two fixtures against Fulham and Brentford respectively are games they’re more than capable of getting points from, and they need to start winning games quickly if this season isn’t going to be about a fight against the drop.
Gerrard was brought in to get Villa back to the heady days of Martin O’Neill’s tenure when they were consistently fighting to get into Europe and reaching the latter stages of cup competitions.
They’re nowhere near that a year on from the former Rangers manager’s arrival and how he handles these two upcoming games could go a long way to determining if he’s given more time to turn around their underwhelming form.
In other Aston Villa news, Alan Hutton believes Ollie Watkins’ World Cup hopes are over.