Leicester City vs Aston Villa: Preview and Prediction
Leicester City will be taking on the visiting Aston Villa at King Power Stadium in the English Premier League football match on Saturday.
Leicester City comes into this game on the back of a 1-1 draw against Frank Lampard’s Everton in the league. An early first-half goal from England international Harvey Barnes for Leicester City was cancelled out by a late second-half goal from Brazilian attacker Richarlison for Everton.
Aston Villa, on the other hand, lost 4-0 to Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur in the league. A hat-trick from South Korean forward Son Heung-min and a goal from Swedish winger Dejan Kulusevski sealed the deal for Tottenham Hotspur.
Current Form
Leicester City is 9th in the league and has won two of their last five league games. Manager Brendan Rodgers has come under pressure this season after some poor performances from Leicester City, and the Foxes will need to address some problem positions this summer.
Leicester City will play in this match after a 1-1 Premier League drawn game against Everton. In that match, Leicester City had 64% possession and 11 shots on goal with 3 on target. The scorer for Leicester City was Harvey Barnes (5′). At the other end, Everton got 13 shots at goal with 3 of them on target. Richarlison (92′) scored for Everton.
Leicester City has been conceding pretty frequently lately, but they have also managed to hit the back of the net themselves. Over their last 6 matches, Leicester City has seen their goal breached in 5 of them in addition to scoring in 5 of those games. We will have to find out if that trend will be continued on into this next match. Heading into this contest, Leicester City is unbeaten in their previous 5 league matches at home.
Coutinho has been the sole bright spot for Aston Villa this season
Aston Villa, on the other hand, is 15th in the league and has lost the last four league games. A fairly good start to Steven Gerrard’s reign, combined with some excellent initial performances from January acquisition Philippe Coutinho, raised the hopes of Aston Villa fans. But their recent form is extremely troubling.
Following on from a losing effort in their last game against Tottenham Hotspur in Premier League action, Aston Villa and their travelling fans will hope for a better result here. In that game, Aston Villa had 52% possession and 19 attempts on goal with 8 on target. At the other end, Tottenham Hotspur got 11 attempts on goal with 5 of them on target. Heung-Min Son (3′, 66′, 71′) and Dejan Kulusevski (50′) scored for Tottenham Hotspur.
In a total of 5 out of the previous 6 clashes involving Aston Villa, a minimum of three goals have gone in. The overall average number of goals per match within that spell is 3, with the number of goals averaged by Aston Villa being 1.5. Coming into this clash, Aston Villa is without a win away from home in their last 2 league matches.
Team News
Leicester City will miss the services of Jamie Vardy through injury
Danny Ward (Knee Surgery), Jamie Vardy (Knee Injury) and Wilfred Ndidi (Knee Injury) won’t be able to feature for Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers.
It seems likely that The Foxes will possibly employ a 4-2-3-1 formation for this one, handing starts to Kasper Schmeichel, Ricardo Pereira, Jonny Evans, Wesley Fofana, Timothy Castagne, Youri Tielemans, Nampalys Mendy, James Maddison, K. Dewsbury-Hall, Harvey Barnes and Kelechi Iheanacho.
Thanks to a mainly healthy group of players, there’s just a single fitness issue for the Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard to contend with. Lucas Digne (Shoulder Injury) misses out on this game.
From our viewpoint, The Villans might elect for a 4-3-1-2 lineup, going with Emiliano Martinez, Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Ashley Young, John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey, Philippe Coutinho, Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins.
Predicted Starting XIs
Leicester City (4-2-3-1): Kasper Schmeichel; Ricardo Pereira, Jonny Evans, Wesley Fofana, Timothy Castagne; Youri Tielemans, Nampalys Mendy; James Maddison, K. Dewsbury-Hall, Harvey Barnes; Kelechi Iheanacho
Aston Villa (4-3-1-2): Emiliano Martinez; Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Ashley Young; John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey; Philippe Coutinho; Danny Ings, Ollie Watkins
Prediction
We’re of the opinion that Aston Villa and Leicester City could well both score and end up finding themselves in a fairly even game here. It’s looking like it could well end up as a draw. We’re therefore seeing a very even match with a score draw at the end of this one.