premier league prize is bottom line for chelsea boss carlo ancelotti

... but ancelotti admits a good display against aston villa today will provide a much better indication as to whether chelsea have blown away the cobwebs in the nick of time as the title race enters the closing stages ... ' arsene wenger can't forgive martin taylor for horror tackle on eduardosqueeky bum time agian: but fergie predicts united will win title on last daysir alex ferguson questions fa decision not to extend thomas vermaelen's ban for a 'frivolous' appeal arsenal's easy run-in counts for zero in hunt for glory, insists fergusoncarlo puts positive spin on chelsea euro exit as he looks for title race edgethree is magic number for o'neill as villa boss targets treble over chelseaarsenal fc

birmingham city v arsenal - follow live text commentary

... three consecutive stalemates followed - against aston villa, wigan and middlesbrough - and a defeat at chelsea started their spiral from the summit

wolverhampton wanderers v everton - follow live text commentary

... the success has now seen them collect seven points from a possible nine after their excellent 2-2 draw at midlands rivals aston villa and their 2-1 triumph at burnley on march 13

martin o'neill admits aston villa have little margin for error

... martin o'neill said last night that aston villa are still fighting for a place in the top four, though he admitted their stuttering form in recent weeks has left little margin for error between now and the end of the season ... that match was the seventh time villa have failed to win in 10 unbeaten league fixtures this year and o'neill conceded that the disappointing run of results means draws are no longer enough away from home if they are to remain in the hunt for champions league football ... "o'neill accepted stewart downing "has a point", after the england international claimed the villa players were "out on our feet" at the end of the sunderland match, and he signalled his intention to "freshen it up" over the coming weeks ... with spurs taking on portsmouth today, there is every chance villa will lose further ground on fourth place this weekend but o'neill believes the race is far from over

chelsea must banish thoughts of being nearly men, says carlo ancelotti

... chelsea begin this afternoon's game against aston villa a point behind manchester united at the top of the table having finished as runners-up in successive years and third last term since last winning the championship in 2006 ... we need to show against villa that our bad period is over so that we can look forward with optimism to the united game next weekend ... "chelsea have been stripped of defensive options for today's visit of villa – the only team still to lose in the league this calendar year – with ricardo carvalho having joined ashley cole, branislav ivanovic and josé bosingwa on the sidelines ... we'll see against villa whether we have come out of that difficult period we've been in

squad sheets: chelsea v aston villa

... aston villa are unbeaten in the league in this calendar year, a statistic that is deceptive: seven of their 10 games have been drawn, with those dropped points choking their challenge for fourth place ... dominic fifield venue stamford bridge, saturday 3pm tickets sold out last season chelsea 2 aston villa 0 referee p walton probable starters in bold, contenders in light photograph: graphic this season's matches 21 y50, r4, 2 ... 57 cards per game odds chelsea 4-9 aston villa 8-1 draw 15-4 chelsea subs from hilário, turnbull, bruma, van aanholt, belletti, deco, sturridge, kakuta, borini, kalou, ballack, matic doubtful hilário (groin), ballack (achilles) injured essien (knee, 3 apr), ivanovic (knee, 25 apr), a cole (ankle, 25 apr), carvalho (ankle, 25 apr), bosingwa (knee, aug) suspended none form guide wdwlwl disciplinary record y43 r4 leading scorer drogba 24 aston villa subs from guzan, delfouneso, beye, davies, albrighton, salifou, dunne, milner, heskey doubtful agbonlahor (foot), dunne, heskey, milner (all achilles) injured delph (ankle, apr 3), reo-coker (ankle, apr 25), harewood (foot, aug), bouma (ankle, unknown) suspended none form guide ddwdwd disciplinary record y49 r2 leading scorer agbonlahor 11 match pointers ... chelsea have won two of their last eight premier league meetings with aston villa, but both those two wins came last season ... villa have kept five clean sheets in their last seven league away games ... chelsea have scored the most headed goals in the premier league this season (13), while aston villa have conceded the fewest (2) ... nicolas anelka has scored six goals in his last seven league starts against villa ... villa have scored 11 goals from corners this season, more than any other side

the worst english champions ever (sort of)?

... there have been a few examples of the champions losing three and drawing one, the most recent being aston villa in the 1980-81 season ... they drew 1-1 at home to third-placed arsenal, losing 2-0 at highbury (the day they clinched the title), and lost both fixtures to second-placed ipswich: 2-1 at villa park in mid-april (which seemed to leave ipswich as favourites) and 1-0 at portman road ... back in europe, alfred 'freddy' aston was capped 31 times for france and played in both the 1934 and 1938 world cups

tuncay's quick exit gives pulis another problem after stoke fire blanks

... tuncay sanli's future at stoke city has come under renewed scrutiny after it emerged he responded to being substituted against aston villa on saturday by leaving the stadium before the match had finished ... fuller, tuncay's replacement, and dave kitson, who came on for sidibe, looked much more threatening as a partnership and caused a villa defence, in which richard dunne and james collins were outstanding, several anxious moments in the second half ... villa lost the corresponding fixture 3-2 last season after succumbing to rory delap's throw-in prowess but martin o'neill has rebuilt his defence since then and dunne and collins seemed to thrive on the chance of the extra heading practice the midfielder's 19 long throw-ins provided ... "the two of them, at £5m each, have been great value," said villa's manager ... o'neill was satisfied with the outcome but the result has heightened villa's need to win at wigan tomorrow to maintain their pursuit of champions league football

craig gardner digs deep to keep birmingham in with a shout for europe

... once, birmingham city and aston villa could have joined forces to conquer europe ... that was what city officials proposed in 1955, when their club were invited to become the first english participants in european competition, but villa rejected the idea ... this could be the season in which they finally secure a return – but that may entail leapfrogging the team in the last of england's europa league places, one spot and two points above birmingham: aston villa ... if birmingham pull off that unlikely feat, it will partially be because, unlike in 1955, they have been reinforced by former villa players ... liam ridgewell has been a mainstay of their defence all season, kevin phillips has struck important goals, and against everton another who once earned a living at villa park finally made a goal-scoring contribution ... "anybody who has any doubt about him [because of his villa connection] should realise now that he's a proud local blues fan," said the manager alex mcleish ... " gardner played almost an hour, during which his dynamism, in addition to his goal, helped his side recover from two goals down and salvage a point that spared them losing ground to villa, and prevented everton from gaining any on either of them

milestone more like millstone for liverpool

... liverpool beat aston villa 5-0 next and the only points they dropped in the rest of the barclays premier league season were to arsenal in a 4-4 draw majestically dominated by andrey arshavin