📰 Table Of Contents
Recommended bets
[RECOMMENDED_BETS]
Match preview
West Midlands meets East Midlands, with these two clubs seemingly going in opposite directions just now.
Aston Villa are on the up under Unai Emery, winning five of seven Premier League games under him, including taking the notable scalps of Manchester United and Tottenham.
A fortnight ago, the Claret and Blue Army enjoyed a 1-0 victory over Southampton, thanks to Ollie Watkins’ late winner at St Mary’s.
This propelled Villa up to 11th, 11 points clear of the relegation zone.
Leicester City, in contrast, are hovering dangerously close to the bottom three, given that they’re ten points worse off than their hosts.
The Foxes did hold in-form Brighton to a 2-2 draw in their last outing, with the now departed Marc Albrighton and Harvey Barnes on target.
Unlike their Midlands rivals, Leicester are still going strong in the FA Cup, ousting Walsall last weekend, thanks to Kelechi Ịheanachọ’s deflected shot at the Bescot.
They’ll host Blackburn Rovers in the fifth round next month.
Here, the Foxes have won just three of their last ten visits to Villa Park, beaten 2-1 there last season, with Villa confident of making home advantage count again.
Aston Villa team news
Diego Carlos, Lucas Digne and John McGinn all remained sidelined due to injury.
In the absence of Digne, January signing Álex Moreno will keep his place at left-back.
In fact, given that they haven’t had a game for two weeks, Unai Emery may well name an unchanged XI.
One alteration could come at right-back, where Matty Cash will be hoping to dislodge Ashley Young.
New signing Jhon Durán could make his debut, most-likely from the bench.
The 19 year old Colombian striker scored eight goals in MLS for an otherwise abject Chicago Fire team in 2022, before Villa paid $20 million for his services.
Predicted XI (4-4-2): Martínez; Young, Konsa, Minga, Moreno; Douglas Luiz, Kamara, Buendía, Ramsey; Bailey, Watkins.
Leicester City team news
Brendan Rodgers made a few changes to his team at Walsall last Saturday, but all the big guns will be back in for this one.
Left-back Victor Kristiansen made his debut off the bench, but Luke Thomas could keep his place for now.
Since then, winger Tetê has joined on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk, while £15 million has been spent on centre-back Harry Souttar from Stoke.
James Maddison started for the first time since early November last weekend, and his return is a major boost.
Kelechi Ịheanachọ and Patson Daka featured in that cup tie, but Jamie Vardy is likely to be back leading the line in this one.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): Ward; Castagne, Faes, Amartey, Thomas; Mendy, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall; Maddison, Barnes, Vardy.
Premier League Survivor: £25k+ Prize Pool!
PREMIER LEAGUE SURVIVOR TIP OF THE WEEK
Premier League Big5: £1,000+ Prize Pool!
PREMIER LEAGUE BIG5 TIP OF THE WEEK
Aston Villa vs Leicester City: Head to head statistics
[STATISTICS]
