Martin O’Neill & Ashley Young have snapped up a double for Villa with the Barclays Manager and Player of the Month for December.

 

With a worrying string of un-Chelsea-like results still fresh in the mind, Scolari has admitted to tinkering with his training routine in a bid to re-invigorate the Stamford Bridge Premiership challenge. Two wins from seven matches in the league plus the debacle in the FA Cup against lowly Southend United who stole a draw to take the Blues back to Roots Hall have led to a considerable amount of soul-searching amongst last years beaten Champions League finalists. Rumours of disquiet amongst senior players including Terry, Lampard and of course Drogba were not aided by the sale of popular squad member Wayne Bridge to Manchester City.

A positive result against Sir Alex Ferguson’s men puts Chelsea firmly back into the championship race. A defeat and, as Scolari almost admitted himself, Roman Abramovich can forget any thoughts of adding the Premier League trophy to his cabinet again this year.