Aston Villa look to continue their fine form in the Premier League as they host Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City this weekend. Here’s the latest heading into another big fixture at Villa Park…
THE BUILD UP
As the commotion of the January transfer window dies down and the FA Cup fourth round action draws to an end, Premier League football returns and Unai Emery’s Villans are back playing at Villa Park. Brendan Rodgers’ struggling Leicester City side make the visit to B6 this week and find themselves desperate for points, having failed to win in any of their last five Premier League games.
Last time out, the Foxes picked up a point against Roberto De Zerbi’s high-flying Brighton & Hove Albion. The in-form Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma opened the scoring with a superb curling effort in the 27th minute, before ex-Villan and now West Brom loanee Marc Albrighton levelled it up before the break. Harvey Barnes put the home side ahead at the King Power Stadium, but young striker Evan Ferguson would tie things up at 2-2 with minutes to spare.
Aston Villa meanwhile, are on a great run of late and are considered one of the form sides in the league, taking 16 points from a possible 21; bettered only by league leaders Arsenal (19). Their performances in January helped the West-Midlands side up to 11th in the table – just three points behind Fulham in 7th – and earned manager Unai Emery a Premier League Manager of the Month nomination.
Last time out, Villa defeated Nathan Jones’ Saints by a goal to nil, courtesy of Ollie Watkins’ 77th minute header. It was a well-contested game on the south-coast, but Emery’s resilient team came up trumps in the end and took all three points with them back to Birmingham, making it three wins on the trot on the road.
TEAM NEWS
ASTON VILLA
Unai Emery welcomed both Lucas Digne and captain John McGinn back to first team training this week. The pair were both absent from the trip to Southampton last time out, with McGinn last featuring on New Years Day against Tottenham. On the duo’s return, Emery said: “John McGinn is going to be in the squad… Lucas Digne is training this week, normal with us.”
The Spaniard also confirmed that Bertrand TraorΓ©, who was recalled from his loan with Turkish outfit Δ°stanbul BaΕakΕehir, “is coming (back) next week, starting training progressively with us.”
Colombian forward Jhon DurΓ‘n faces the possibility of making his Aston Villa debut tomorrow afternoon. Regarding the 19-year-old’s potential involvement, Emery said: βI think he can tomorrow maybe, possibly play minutes and make his debut on the pitch.β
The former Villarreal head coach went on to reveal that “Diego Carlos is close to starting training with us but, of course, not tomorrow,” and “Jed Steer as well, he is not ready.β
In the final week of the January window, Aston Villa let several players go on temporary loan deals. Morgan Sanson joined Fred Guilbert at RC Strasbourg until the end of the season, whilst Marvelous Nakamba joined Luton Town on a 6 month deal. Youngsters Louie Barry, Filip Marshall and Aaron Ramsey also found new clubs for the remainder of the campaign.
Ludwig Augustinsson and Jan Bednarek had their loans cut short at the club, with Bednarek returning back to help parent club Southampton fight relegation and Augustinsson returns back to Spain, joining LaLiga side RCD Mallorca. To add, Kaine Kesler-Hayden was recalled from his loan with Huddersfield Town and looks set to feature in the Under 23s set-up for the rest of the season.
LEICESTER CITY
Brendan Rodgers will assess the fitness of Jamie Vardy before the trip to Villa Park tomorrow. The veteran forward missed Leicester’s FA Cup fixture last weekend with a muscle injury. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Brendan Rodgers said: “City’s No.9 will be monitored in the coming days.”
Central defender Harry Souttar, who joined the Foxes on deadline day for a reported Β£15 million, also needs looking at prior to Saturday’s game. On his latest signing, Rodgers said: “He had a little bit of a hip issue coming in. Heβs trained with the squad today, but heβs one of the players I need to assess.”
Midfielder Wilfried Ndidi will not be involved this week due to personal issues, the Northern Irishmen confirmed, adding that “Jonny Evans (calf), Boubacar Soumare (hamstring) and Ricardo Pereira (achilles) are progressing well,” but are unavailable for selection too.
Full-backs James Justin and Ryan Bertrand are sidelined with long-term injuries, having both not played this year.
Joining Harry Souttar as a new arrival last month are Brazilian winger TetΓͺ, who joins on loan from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, and Danish defender Victor Kristiansen, who made his debut last weekend having joined from FC Copenhagen for a reported Β£17 million on the 19th.
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A BIT ON LEICESTER CITY
Leicester City suffered a dismal start to the 2022/23 season. A lacklustre summer transfer window saw just Woet Faes and Alex Smithies enter the club, despite the loss of crucial first-team members in Wesley Fofana and Kasper Schmeichel – this left LCFC fans worried before the campaign even began. 1 point from the opening seven Premier League games followed, leaving the Foxes at the bottom of the table and questions were starting to get asked of Brendan Rodgers and the board, with the fear of relegation starting to creep in.
Fast forward nearly five months and the 2015/16 Premier League winners sit in a far healthier 13th place. An impressive victory over rivals Nottingham Forest and other triumphs over fellow strugglers Leeds United, West Ham and Everton have helped the East-Midlands side to break out of the relegation zone.
Since the league restart post-World Cup however, Rodgers’ team have picked up just one point and are re-showing signs of the side that began the campaign. Nonetheless, the January additions of TetΓͺ, Victor Kristiansen and Harry Souttar would have boosted spirits around the club and Rodgers will hope his side can turn their form around at Villa Park tomorrow.
Away from the league, Leicester are into the fifth round of the FA Cup, having recently won 1-0 away to League Two promotion chasers Walsall. Kelechi Iheanacho’s sole strike in the second half was enough to see off Michael Flynn’s side, despite the Saddlers putting in a valiant shift at The Bescot Stadium. The Foxes saw off another fourth-tier side in Gillingham the round before and will host Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers at the end of February as they look to win a second FA Cup in three years after defeating Chelsea at Wembley in the 2020/21 final.
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PREDICTED LINE-UP
Letβs take a look at Liamβs predicted line-up for this upcoming gameweek 22 fixtureβ¦
Do you agree? Who makes your side?
Have your own attempt by accessing the following link: https://utvpodcast.co.uk/line-up-selector/.
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AUTHOR | LIAM DAVIES
Authorβs UTV PODCAST archive Liam Davies – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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