- Chelsea made it really difficult for Villa to settle in the first half with well-timed pressing. They were always going to respond to their loss to Arsenal.
- Death, taxes and Olivier Giroud scoring against Villa.
- Trezeguet would’ve been useful tonight as Villa struggled to keep Chilwell quiet.
- After a rough first half, Traore’s defensive work was much better in the second period.
- Anwar El Ghazi is on fire in front of goal. He made the finish look easier than it was. I didn’t see this turnaround coming from him.
- Cash’s cross to set up the goal was superb.
- Villa fully deserved their first point from a losing position for their gutsy performance.
- The players earning a draw away at Chelsea whilst being demonstrably tired is extremely impressive.
- John McGinn as Man of the Match was a no-brainer. He was everywhere today, was probably the only Villa player who didn’t look tired and almost had to buy Chelsea a new crossbar after his rocket shot.
- Villa seemed to have problems defending against crosses without Mings organising things.
- Watkins had a couple of important near-post clearances from Chelsea set-pieces.
- I know Smith trusts his core group, but I was still surprised he left it so long before making his first sub.
- Grealish wasn’t as involved as he would like, which is a credit to Chelsea.
- Man United in just four days will be another big test, but Mings and Barkley should be back in the fold by then.
- UTV.
The Villa Ramble 
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