Coming fresh out of the recent loss in Japan, Chelsea bounced back with a pouncing and pounding of Leeds with 5 goals to 1. But is the team back to his winning form?
This is a question that will definitely be answered by the remaining matches in the year. I've heard many Chelsea fans and sympathisers (plus mockers) decry the lacklustre performance of Abramovich's fortune buy, the Legendary Fernando Toress! They belief that if the club can finish up the year with decent standing on the table, January market could offer a respite for the attacking department.
That is left to be seen...they said the same thing before the Toress deal. Below is a preview of the first of the rest of the matches for the year.
The Aston Villa test
Aston Villa are beginning to click under manager Paul Lambert, culminating in a superb 3-1 win over Liverpool last weekend, and Benitez is aware of the threat of Sunday's visitors.
"Aston Villa are unbeaten in five games, they are comfortable and have good options on the counter-attack," said the Spaniard. "Christian Benteke is a good player, strong in the air and good with the ball."
Villa produced a shock result in this fixture last season, coming out 3-1 winners, but Lambert isn't expecting an easy ride against last season's European Champions.
"I hope the travelling affects them - but I don't think it will," said a typically downbeat Lambert. "They had a good result the other night against Leeds. The tiredness only comes in if you are not getting results, if you're winning nobody bothers.
"In terms of Rafa, you look at his managerial career and it is phenomenal. He's gone in there at a difficult time and tried to stabilise it and get results at the same time. You look at Chelsea's squad, and the players they've got, and there are some world-class players in there."
Chelsea are without Oriol Romeu (knee) and Daniel Sturridge (hamstring), while John Terry (knee) will face a late fitness test. Villa have doubts over Gabriel Agbonlahor (thigh), Darren Bent (hamstring), Ron Vlaar (calf) and Richard Dunne (groin), while Stilyan Petrov and Gary Gardner are out.
Aston Villa may have won at Stamford Bridge last season, but Chelsea picked up three points in the reverse fixture, winning 4-2 at Villa Park. Villa's victory at the Bridge was their first at the ground since 2002. Chelsea had won seven and drawn the other three of the ten matches against Villa in all competitions prior to that game.
Chelsea's 3-1 victory over Sunderland in their last league match ended a winless run of seven - their longest run since 1995. The Blues have drawn three straight matches at home, failing to score in back-to-back league games at the Bridge. Villa's win at Liverpool was just their second in the last 17 away from home in the league, and was the first time they had managed three goals in a game since January.
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