Aston Villa vs Leicester City

In-form Aston Villa and out-of-sorts Leicester City are set to trade tackles in a lopsided Premier League contest at Villa Park this weekend.

Aston Villa’s uplift in form under new boss Unai Emery continued with a dramatic 1-0 triumph away to Southampton last time out, stretching their unbeaten league run to four matches (W3, D1). The Spaniard has massively outperformed his predecessor Steven Gerrard at the helm, guiding Villa to five wins in seven Premier League games (D1, L1), as many victories as they had in their previous 24 outings in the competition before his arrival (D6, L13). Ironically, though, both games they’ve failed to win so far under Emery have come at home after conceding the opening goal within 15 minutes. Moreover, the ‘Lions’ have managed just one win in their last four top-flight H2Hs against Leicester (D1, L2), courtesy of a 2-1 triumph in this corresponding fixture in 2021/22.

On the other hand, Leicester City’s bid to steer away from the drop zone took another hit last time out as Brighton & Hove Albion netted late to hold them to a 2-2 draw at the King Power Stadium. That result at least helped Brendan Rodgers’ side arrest a dreadful four-match losing run in the Premier League. However, only one point separates the ‘Foxes’ from 18th-placed Bournemouth at the start of this round, so they’ll be desperate to build on a hard-fought 1-0 FA Cup win at lower-league Walsall last weekend. No matter the outcome, this should be a high-scoring contest, with Leicester’s away Premier League matches this season averaging a joint-league-high four goals per game.