Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has set his sights on
the rarest of prizes - a double over Chelsea. Villa face Chelsea at
Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day bidding to follow up their 2-0 home
win in September. But repeating the feat will be a monumental task
for Villa as Chelsea are unbeaten at home in the Barclays Premier
League for 71 games.
The last time Chelsea were beaten on their own territory in the
league was back in February 2004, when they lost to Arsenal. Yet
O'Neill is relishing the task and is hopeful of guiding Villa to
their first double over the Londoners since 1990. The former Celtic
boss said: "Chelsea are a very good team and we will need to be
strong for the whole game because they can score a goal at any
given moment. "When we beat them in September there was a great
deal of delight in the dressing room because we had won a big game
and that is the sort of desire and commitment that you need to play
in these big matches.
"In terms of the belief and encouragement that it gave the players
it was a great win. "But we know that it is going to take a lot for
us to get another win." O'Neill has hinted that he may have to make
a switch in tactics for the clash. He added: "Chelsea are past
masters at being able to go forward, still have a Claude
Makelele-type sitting in there to break things up and still keep
the pattern of the game going. "When you have two out-and-out wide
men in your team that can sometimes be difficult to play against
because it means that the players in the middle of the park have to
do extra work."
Central defender Zat Knight's debut goal for set the team on the
way to that victory over the Blues three months ago and he would
love. The former Fulham centre half-said: "It was great to score on
my debut. "I don't think you could have written it better. I don't
think I will ever forget it. "We have got a good away record at the
moment and we need to go all out to keep that up."
