Some day Chelsea will welcome John Terry home and cheer him to victory. But for today, the Blues will have to gently usher him to a defeat.
The last time a Frank Lampard-managed team met a John Terry assistant managed-team, Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount lined up against their near-lifelong teammate, Tammy Abraham. Aston Villa defeated Derby County that day 2-1 in the Championship playoff, but this time Lampard has the advantage of having all the Chelsea academy graduates under his banner.
Barrett Rouen: Chelsea 2 – 1 West Ham. I imagine Frank Lampard gave the team something of a hairdryer treatment following the worst performance of the season on Saturday. He also will play the stars and not overthink this one. Expect veterans and the best players to play and Chelsea to see this match out, but still concede because, well, they just don’t defend.
Olaoluwa Nwobodo: 2 – 1. Chelsea has not been impressive recently. Losing their last two matches, but winning six before then, they need to get back to winning ways. They should have enough about them to get past Aston Villa.
However, Villa is too smart and organised not to get a goal. Chelsea are up against one of the more disciplined defenses in Aston Villa, and they have yet to impress against disciplined defenses. Speaking of disciplined defenses, Chelsea doesn’t have one. Let’s welcome John Terry back to Stamford Bridge by serving him a loss.
Varun Dani: 3 – 1. Lampard and Co. are going through a dry patch and a midweek Premier League game is only going to make things more difficult. Expect Lampard to rotate players and tactics to grind out a win against the upbeat Villains.
Callum Hudson-Odoi will get his season back on track and Michy Batshuayi will get his chance as the starting striker. Hopefully Tammy Abraham is not risked for this one.
Scott Brant: 3 – 1. Chelsea will come out like gangbusters. They’ll want to get off to an early start, attacking early and netting one within the first 15 minutes.
I would be way more confident of this prediction if I knew Tammy Abraham was playing. Without him, it could very well be a 2-1 or 1-0 scoreline for the Blues. A win is a must, regardless of how it occurs. Mateo Kovacic and Christian Pulisic with the goals, and whichever striker starts.
Nate Hofmann: 3 – 2. After getting sucker punched by West Ham on Saturday, Chelsea will be desperate to get back on track. The fixture list is pretty kind over the next four matches before the fateful encounter with Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham on December 22, so this would be the perfect time to start another winning streak.
Aston Villa, on the other hand, have four difficult fixtures over the next two weeks, followed by a ridiculously easy end of the month.
Both teams certainly put in a shift over the weekend, and fresh legs are becoming rarer and rarer. Chelsea were able to rotate against West Ham (albeit unsuccessfully), so the likes of Willian and N’Golo Kante should be running rings around everyone else. Aston Villa played what is probably their ideal XI against Manchester United last weekend, and their backups are nothing to get excited about.
Chelsea will put the ball in the back of the net multiple times, but you’d bet on Jack Grealish and John McGinn doing the same as well. The Blues edge a nervy one here.
Vansh Ambashta: 2 – 1. At the moment, Chelsea look short of ideas and just exhausted in general. The spark has been missing in attack and the defense, well, has made all efforts to convince us that Antonio Rudiger is needed. Urgently.
Since Tammy Abraham is a doubt for the game, Chelsea’s front line will struggle again and the teams will go into halftime at 0-0. Aston Villa will take the lead soon after the rest, but Christian Pulisic will pull one back. Callum Hudson-Odoi, on a sub, will steal the game for Chelsea in the dying moments.
Kevin Peacock: 2 – 0. Off the back of two Premier League defeats Frank Lampard will be looking to get one over his former captain, leader and legend, John Terry. The Villa coach will be the toast of the Bridge on his first competitive return since leaving in 2017.
Chelsea really do need a win with Jose Mourinho’s Spurs on the up. With the stakes high, Chelsea deliver that much needed victory winning the game 2-0. If Tambraham’s fit, he scores; and Jorginho with the second.
Hugo Amaya: 2 – 0. Chelsea need a win. Frank Lampard needs the win. To get it, Lampard will go back to basic tactics but with more rotation. It will be a slow start for the Blues but, before the end of the first 45, Chelsea will score the first goal of the match.
During the second half Chelsea will be vulnerable and easy to break down, but a second goal in the second half will take the wind out of Villa and the Blues come out with the three points.
Abhishek Pancholi: 4 – 0. Tammy Abraham might only be fit enough to make the bench, but it won’t matter in the end. Olivier Giroud struggled to do anything resembling a striker in the previous game, and Michy Batshuayi seems to have disappointed yet another manager. That will force Frank Lampard into fielding Christian Pulisic as the false 9 in a fluid formation with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Willian. That will prove too much to handle for Villa, whose defending will leave John Terry facepalm-ing upon his return to Stamford Bridge.
After Pulisic opens the scoring Willian will add to the scoreline with two well-taken goals. Hudson-Odoi will round off the scoring to get Chelsea back on track.