Premier League: Why no Aston Villa and Swansea love?

The pressure on Paul Lambert at Aston Villa has eased recently

Despite excelling in August, unbeaten Aston Villa and Swansea are 12.5 to win their fourth Premier League fixtures...

The Premier League returns from a 13-day breather on Saturday and a scan of the match odds reveals an unusual situation whereby the two biggest prices on offer are for two of the Premier League's top three.

Swansea are 12.5n/a to win away to Chelsea and the same odds are available on Aston Villa bringing three points back home from Liverpool, with both the Blues and the Reds 1.321/3 to lay. There are reasons to believe that each host is worth opposing.

Chelsea may be setting the Premier League pace courtesy of three wins from three, but Swansea are right up alongside them on nine points. Garry Monk's men have beaten Man United, Burnley and West Brom, going five hours and seven minutes without conceding a goal in all competitions.

Swansea have also lost just three of the previous seven clashes between the pair, and two of those were slender 0-1 reverses. They were particularly unlucky in the latest meeting in April, keeping the west Londoners quiet until the 68th minute despite having Chico Flores sent off in the 16th.

Aston Villa's promising start has been built from a similarly sturdy defensive base, with their Aly Cissokho, Philippe Senderos and Alan Hutton-enforced backline (a phrase you probably never expected to read) being breached only once across their first three Premier League games.

The other promising omen for Paul Lambert's improved side is that even in the three dreary campaigns that preceded this one, they avoided defeat at Anfield, drawing 1-1 in 2011/12, triumphing 3-1 in 2012/13 and then assuming a 2-0 lead before sharing the spoils 2-2 last term.

The latter result was achieved against the all-star Liverpool front three of Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling. They won't be required to confront two of those this time around with Suarez sold and Sturridge almost certain to miss out after being injured on England duty.