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Thu 15 October 2015 16:19, UK

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With a suspended stadium ban hanging over his head, the prospect of gagged Chelsea chief Jose Mourinho, £50k lighter following an FA fine this week, going a game without moaning about not getting penalties is a very real one.
The Portuguese coach has looked increasingly incapable of coping with his sides’ struggles in the lower reaches, but with Roman Abramovich’s notoriously paper-thin patience at breaking point, enter Tim Sherwood to the rescue.
Aston Villa’s point-spilling supremo plays the hulking fireman to Mourinho’s cat stuck in a tree, rushing with ladders and overcoat to pull his opposite number clear of his current bind.
The Chelsea boss won’t be the first under-fire gaffer to turn to selfless Sherwood for a pressure-easing victory, though with his Blues charges burdened to carry the weight of their shredded confidence from the previous season, don’t expect them to savage their claret-clad visitors.
Win, Lose or Draw?
Dick Advocaat, Tony Pulis, Brendan Rodgers and Mark Hughes are all below-par-performing managers to have been handed positive results by Sherwood’s Villa this term.
The west Midlanders have been bested by each of their last four top-tier rivals, with a common theme running through their run of substandard results.
At home, an inability to bag has meant one goal from the visitors has been generally been enough to decide the contest, but on the road all attacking deficiencies are forgotten.
Villa haven’t failed to find the net on their travels thus far, going down 3-2 in both of their previous two trips to Leicester and Liverpool.
These two results, in addition to the spate of 1-0 home defeats already alluded to, are part of lengthy strain of scorelines with one goal separating the sides.
Eight of the Villans’ last ten in all competitions have been settled by a solitary strike, as was the case in four of their previous five meetings with Chelsea.
The champions have been unusually porous so far this season, which will encourage Villa to stick with their expansive modus operandi in west London, though the holes this leaves in their defence will once more prove fatal.
A Chelsea win is the only match-betting wager worth entertaining, but don’t expect an emphatic one.
Recommended bet: Any team to win by exactly one goal @ 19/10
Over/Under?
A Bridge-drenching downpour is forecast this weekend, so make sure you’re punting on overs.
No team in the top-flight has been involved with more matches containing at least three goals than Chelsea, with a staggering seven of their eight outings to date crossing the threshold in question.
Add this to the 100% overs record Mourinho’s men have from three cup fixtures and the eventuality of a high-scoring affair grows to near-certainty status.
Villa’s more predictable four unders, four overs league ledger goes a small way to dampening the guarantee of three goals or more, but the net has bulged 13 times in their three previous road games, restoring faith that the scoreboard operator will be worn out come full-time.
Recommended bet: Over 2.5 goals @ 31/50
Who’s going to score?
French striker Rudy Gestede has notched three across his last three Villa starts.
In addition to this, he has also struck in three of their four away fixtures thus far.
The towering frontman is a potent weapon for any team who looking to utilise his aerial prowess and the seeping Chelsea defence are in for a long afternoon of repelling crosses here.
Recommended bet: Gestede to score any time @ 13/4
Left-field flutter
Nine of the previous 12 goals Villa have shipped have come after the interval, while four of the previous five Premier League strikes plundered by Chelsea came in the second half.
Recommended bet: More Chelsea goals in the second half @ 13/10
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This article was first published at News.Bwin.com