Strike, Henderson on his throne and Chelsea today

I'm in beach mode so this is going to be a very quick post and I also need to find a bar that will be showing the game later. I'm sure I'll find one but at the same time, I've come away for Christmas to relax. Is it wrong to say I might give the match a miss?

I've got thinking like this because of strike comments made by Pep Guardiola and Jordan Henderson talking about player welfare and nobody caring. The game is very different these days and it's a reflection of society that these people are allowed to make these comments and it's okay. I can't get my head around a player getting paid the millions of pounds he does each year saying that players welfare is not being taken seriously enough.

It's not just the money, but that is a big part of it. It's that the Clubs know these matches are coming up so maybe Henderson should be speaking to his Club to look after their players? And it's not as if it's just one Club that is suffering from this. And it's worth pointing out that according to the Premier League website, Liverpool have 41 players in their squad, so this is very much Henderson stirring it up for the sake of stirring it up.

I will be watching the match, I'll find a bar, but if the players go on strike, the game is over for me. And players like Henderson need to be brought down a peg or four. For the 15 years that he has to play at Christmas and for the money he gets paid and the people and technology at his disposal to help with his welfare, he can deal with it and live with the consequences because we all would.

Anyway, it's Chelsea at Villa Park later and Stevie G wont be there as he's confirmed Covid. Maybe we should postpone because we don't have our manager? If Henderson was in charge, it would be an option because it's about everyone having an equal chance and everyone feeling loved and appreciated.

Match facts from the BBC

Head-to-head

• Aston Villa can win back-to-back home league games against Chelsea for the first time in 17 years following their 2-1 triumph last season. However, that is Villa's only victory in the past nine Premier League meetings.
• The Blues have won on five of their past seven league visits to Villa Park.
• Chelsea are unbeaten in all five league meetings on Boxing Day, most recently drawing 4-4 at Stamford Bridge in 2007.

Aston Villa

• Villa have amassed 12 points in six matches under head coach Steven Gerrard - two more than in their opening 11 league games under Dean Smith.
• They have won three successive Boxing Day fixtures, their longest run since five victories in a row between 1908 and 1913.
• Aston Villa have lost 20 Premier League fixtures in 2021. Only Newcastle United and Southampton, with 21 defeats each, have fared worse.
• They have lost all five games this season versus teams in the top five of the table.
• Ollie Watkins has scored three goals and assisted one in six Premier League appearances under Gerrard.

Chelsea

• Chelsea could go three league games without a win for the first time under head coach Thomas Tuchel.
• They have won just twice in six Premier League fixtures (D3, L1) and are six points behind leaders Manchester City.
• The Blues can lose three successive Boxing Day fixtures for the first time since 1914.
• They have not lost a Boxing Day league game outside of London since a 2-0 defeat at Notts County in 1991.
• Chelsea had dropped seven points from winning positions in their past eight Premier League games.
• Six of the 12 Premier League goals conceded by Chelsea this season have come via a set-piece.