Villa favourite Ian Taylor believes there is no stopping Emile Heskey on the international stage when the England squad is whittled down for the World Cup.

James Milner is the Villa player everyone’s talking about as nailed on for South Africa – but I reckon it’s still Emile Heskey. There’s no one like Emile.

Carlton Cole is getting closer to him but he lacks the experience for a World Cup. Emile, on the other hand, has done it all.  It’s clear Fabio Capello likes him and, unlike Milner, he has been a regular starter in the Italian’s first-choice team.

He has continued to pick him despite him regularly being on the sidelines at Villa and, despite these murmurings about having to play regularly for your club, I fully expect Emile to go.

I remember coming up against him when he was a young lad and he was a nightmare to play against – pace, power, presence. The truth is, at 31, he’s past his best now. He’s lost that pace now and has to rely on his other qualities.

Emile has taken some flack since he joined last January – his record of two goals from 28 appearances speaks for itself. It’s poor.  But I think Villa fans probably expected too much from him.

He was just someone we needed at the time. Martin O’Neill needed some cover for John Carew and Emile was available – and at £3.5million it was a decent price.

I still think he’s served his purpose. His arrival brought the best out of Carew when he returned to fitness – it forced John to step up his game, which is exactly what a fairly laid-back character like that needs.  It was the best thing that could have happened to him.

As for Villa’s other striking star, I worry there could have a repeat scenario of Gabby’s burn-out a few months down the line because there is no real alternative to him right now. Nathan Delfouneso is a talent but, at 18, isn’t quite ready yet. The problem is, how many Gabby’s are around?

Any that are won’t be available – certainly at a price that Villa would be prepared to pay.

Moving on to this weekend’s trip to Burnley, I think Villa are in for one of their toughest away games this season. Their record at Turf Moor tells you that – played six, won five, lost one. Only Chelsea have won more.

I remember from my own playing days what a difficult place it was to go – and not just because of what you were up against on the field. The first battle was handling the facilities. The changing rooms there were tiny. I’ve seen bigger bathrooms. It was like something from the FA Cup third round!0

I don’t know whether  they’ve expanded them since their promotion to the Premier League but if I were them I wouldn’t – opposition teams will hate them! Can you imagine what Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres or John Carew, for that matter, would make of them.

Their home form is so good I don’t see them having any problems staying up this season. There are far worse teams.  They’ve got the spirit but they have some decent footballers too like Robbie Blake, Graham Alexander and Steven Fletcher.

Villa will be confident too after that 5-1 win over Bolton, but three points will be a big ask.

On another note, I feel desperately sorry for Arsene Wenger. It seems that every international break brings bad news for the Arsenal boss.  Last year it was Theo Walcott who got injured on England duty, this time it’s Robin van Persie and Kieran Gibbs.

It’s Van Persie that’s a particularly big blow. He’s been the best striker in the Premier League in recent weeks. He’s going to be out until Christmas at least by the looks of it which is a huge blow at what is one of the most crucial stages of the season.

Chelsea remain my favourites to win the title but I really fancy Arsenal to run them close.  Manchester United aren’t what they were last year while Liverpool will struggle to make the Champions League the rate they’re going.

It’s opened things up at the top and no one has benefited more than Arsenal, who were off the pace last time out.

This term the swagger has been back and much of that has been down to the form of Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas. The main question mark with the Gunners has always been more about their squad than their best XI, which stands up against anything in the league.

That is why they could struggle without Van Persie. Nicklas Bendtner is out to, Emmanuel Adebayor was never replaced and Eduardo doesn’t look quite the goal threat he was before his horrific injury at Birmingham almost two years ago.

The pressure is on him, Fabregas and Andrei Arshavin to deliver the goods in the meantime and an injury to either of the latter pair, who for me are as good as anyone in the top flight, could derail their championship hopes.

I’d certainly never write off Wenger – the guy is a genius. I love the fact he sticks to his principles no matter what anyone says. They play wonderful football, he promotes youth and he spends carefully.

But if I were a Wolves fan I wouldn’t be going to Stamford Bridge with high hopes this weekend.

I really can’t see Mick McCarthy’s men making an impression on Chelsea’s 100 per cent home record in the Premier League. The hosts might be without a host of players but the truth is the guys coming in would walk into Mick’s first XI.

No, home form is the key for any side struggling. It’s not been great for Wolves so far but their Molineux matches with Birmingham, Bolton and Burnley before Christmas are the real games that matter.