Back this 17/10 Aston Villa vs Chelsea single

Aston Villa return to the Villa Park for the second time in four days when they host a struggling Chelsea side on Saturday evening.

Both sides are aiming to secure a spot in Europe next season, but who will leave the west Midlands victorious?

Odds Now's Brad Walker (@brad_TWalker) has dived into the betting markets and picked out a 17/10 fancy ahead of kick-off.

A 2-2 home draw with Liverpool means Aston Villa are now unbeaten in 13 home matches in all competitions heading into this one.

Manager Unai Emery will have been pleased with his side's response to going 1-0 down against the leaders during the first half on Wednesday. In fact, Villa headed into the break 2-1 up courtesy of goals from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins, only for a Trent Alexander-Arnold strike to level the score during the second stanza.

Nevertheless, a point against the side occupying top spot represents a solid results for the Midlanders, who handed first starts to recent acquisitions Marcus Rashford and Marcos Asensio.

Another January signing, Donyell Malen, came closest to stealing the headlines, though. The Dutchman brushed the outside of the post with a last-gasp strike in the dying moments which would have seen Villa claim all three points.

With a wealth of attacking options at his disposal, Emery remains well-poised for a similarly positive showing this weekend, even with the injury troubles they're currently enduring at the back.

Visitors Chelsea are in a real rut, having lost each of their previous three of their previous five matches in all competitions. Their away form has hardly been stellar, too. None of their last six games on the road have ended in victory and they've not scored more than one goal in any of those matches either.

The dismal run has seen them drop to sixth place, though another defeat could see them pipped by Newcastle ahead of kick-off.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is enduring his toughest spell since joining the club last summer. (Photo credit: Alamy Images)

Could a rare Aston Villa win in this fixture be on the cards?

The hosts' record in this fixture isn't great. Villa have picked up only two wins in their last 11 home games against Chelsea in recent years.

Then again, the respective form of these two suggests they could add a third on Saturday evening.

Putting it bluntly, Chelsea look awful right now. They can't buy a win, heaven knows they would if they could given their spending record. The Blues are also missing key players through injury, including Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana and Nicolas Jackson. Talisman Cole Palmer has also struggled of late and is without a goal in his last four league outings.

Add their poor record on the road into the mix and it's hard to envisage anything other than a home win. Villa are on a roll in front of their home fans and will fancy their chances of compounding Chelsea's misery with three points in this one.

Given Villa's poor clean sheet record - they've only kept three all season - I was tempted to back a home win with both teams scoring, but I don't want to get too greedy. The 17/10 price on a Villa win has more than enough juice in it for me, so that's the direction I'll be leaning in for this one.

Brad Walker's Aston Villa vs Chelsea best bet

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