Aston Villa Club News

Saturday 23rd April 2022 Premier League @King Power Stadium, Leicester KO: 15:00 GMT Aston Villa make the trip across to the East Midlands desperately in search of some form and much needed points as they take on Leicester City. Four defeats on the spin leave Villa with an outside chance of relegation although it would take an awful lot of things to fall for this to happen, one more win would relieve the pressure and open up planning for next season. Villa have been poor in their recent games other than the first half against Tottenham Hotspur but again the performance didn’t last for the full 90 minutes and another heavy defeat has seen a slide down the table. Leicester City come into the game having won their last three home games and have climbed up into the top half. Their European Conference League campaign has meant a busy fixture schedule and they may have one eye on the semi final against Roma next week. Brendan Rodgers’ men have been inconsistent in that they have been much stronger at home than on the road and their last two fixtures saw last minute goals conceded to lose to Newcastle United and draw with Everton. Steven Gerrard highlighted the inconsistency of his Villa side in the pre match press conference and made it clear that summer plans are well underway. However, Villa must ensure points are gained as soon as possible to be in a position to start planning the future of a host of players. Aston Villa won the reverse fixture earlier in the season with a 2-1 win with a rare double from Ezri Konsa following a goal from Harvey Barnes for the Foxes. Leicester City Team News Brendan Rodgers will likely be without Jamie Vardy who remains doubtful with a knee injury. Wilfired Ndidi, Ryan Bertrand and Danny Ward (all knee) will miss out whilst Boubakary Soumare will be absent due to personal reasons. Possible starting line up: Schmeichel, Justin, Fofana, Evans, Thomas, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall, Mendy, Perez, Maddison, Daka Aston Villa Team News Steven Gerrard will have to make a few changes with several absentees for the game. Lucas Digne (shoulder), Bertrand Traore (groin) and Kortney Hause (abdominal) will all miss out alongside Morgan Sanson. There should be no other concerns and many Villa fans are hoping to see some changes to the line up to assess players available. Possible starting line up: Martinez, Young, Konsa, Mings, Cash, Nakamba, McGinn, Ramsey, Coutinho, Buendia, Watkins Opposition breakdown Leicester are credited with building attacks from their own half and have a good goals to chances ratio. A lot of their clear chances come from through balls and they tend to attack more down the left hand side. Their weaknesses have been labelled as defending long shots, aerial duels and both set pieces and counter attacks. In regards to attacking, 34 of the 47 goals scored by Leicester have come from open play with 8 goals coming from set pieces, 3 courtesy of counter attacks and 2 penalties. 42% of their attacks have come down the left wing with 35% down the right-hand side and only 23% centrally as they look to utilise the likes of Perez and Maddison to drift wide on the flanks. 64% of their shots have come centrally with 56% coming from inside the 18-yard box, 38% outside of the box and just 6% inside the six-yard box. Defensively, Leicester have conceded 51 goals with 24 from open play, 16 from set pieces, 6 from set penalties, 4 from counter attacks and a single own goal. 72% of the shots conceded from opposition sides have come centrally with 60% of shots being inside the 18-yard box, 30% coming from outside the box and 10% within the six-yard box. Jamie Vardy is top scorer so far this season with 10 goals and Harvey Barnes has the most assists with 6 to his name so far. Their highest rated player statistically based on their position is Wilfred Ndidi. Leicester are 7th in the ‘home table’ with 8 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats in comparison to Aston Villa who themselves sit 11th in the away table with 6 wins, 0 draws and 10 losses on the road. Head to Head record Leicester City 44 wins, 25 Draws, Aston Villa 36 wins Last five meetings: 05 Dec 2021 – Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester City (Premier League) 21 Feb 2021 – Aston Villa 1-2 Leicester City (Premier League) 18 Oct 2020 – Leicester City 0-1 Aston Villa (Premier League) 09 Mar 2020 – Leicester City 4-0 Aston Villa (Premier League) 28 Jan 2020 – Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester City (League Cup Semi-Final) AVILLAFAN MATCH PREDICTION A lot will come down to what side Brenda Rodgers puts out with their semi-final with Roma coming up. Villa need the win more but Leicester City are strong at home. I fancy goals and a tight affair. Leicester City 2-2 Aston Villa

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