Match Preview
Guus Hiddink says that Alexandre Pato could be
in contention for his Barclays Premier League
debut when champions Chelsea visit Aston Villa
on Saturday.
The 26-year-old joined the Blues on loan from
Corinthians in January and has yet to feature, but
interim manager Hiddink says the midfielder’s
fitness may have put him into the frame for this
weekend’s visit to Villa Park.
“Whether Pato will be actively involved we will
see tomorrow,” Hiddink told chelseafc.com . “We
now have eight games coming up and to be
honest there is not much to win for Chelsea any
more. I don’t give any player a guarantee but
there might be some time for experiments.
“Pato’s fitness has improved. He has worked
very hard during the international break. When I
started we had just Diego Costa, which was one
of the reasons we got Pato on loan.
“Meanwhile there was development in, for
instance, Bertrand Traore, so there was more
competition for Pato. Remy has come back after
a long-term injury too. I try to make a fair
judgement and give opportunities to the others
knocking on the door.”
Saturday’s match sees Chelsea visit an Aston
Villa side bottom of the table and 12 points adrift
of safety.
Despite six straight BPL losses for Villa, who will
have acting manager Eric Black in charge
following Remi Garde’s departure, Hiddink
expects a tough test.
Hiddink said: “They were playing with ambition
against Swansea [a 1-0 loss in their last league
match]. When there is a change there is
automatically a reaction. We can expect an
entertaining game tomorrow.”
Garde leaves Aston Villa by mutual consent >>
Black was brought to Villa Park by Garde and
the former Sunderland coach told avfc.co.uk : "I
want to thank Rémi for bringing me into the
Club. It's a fantastic football Club and he's given
me a great opportunity here.
"But now we move on. The Club has to move on.
Remi will move on.
"Hopefully we can take the first steps - whether
small or large - to take the Club back to where
the supporters, especially, want to see it.”
Black will be able to call upon Adama Traore and
Jack Grealish, their wingers having recovered
from respective metatarsal and ankle injuries
which have kept them both out of BPL action
since 2 January.
But Villa will have to make do without Jordan
Amavi (knee) and Libor Kozak (ankle) due to
injury, while Gabriel Agbonlahor also misses out.
Chelsea will still be without striker Diego Costa
due to suspension, while Eden Hazard is doubtful
with a thigh problem.
Aston Villa (from): Bunn, Guzan, Bacuna, Clark,
Hutton, Lescott, Okore, Richards, Richardson, Gil,
Gueye, Grealish, N'Zogbia, Sanchez, Sinclair,
Veretout, Westwood, Ayew, Gestede, Traore.
Chelsea (from): Amelia, Begovic, Blackman,
Courtois, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Ivanovic, Rahman,
Terry, Fabregas, Hazard, Loftus-Cheek, Matic,
Mikel, Oscar, Traore, Willian, Falcao, Kenedy,
Pato, Pedro, Remy.
http://m.premierleague.com/en-gb/matches/2015-2016/epl.summary.html/aston-villa-vs-chelsea
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