BUILD-UP
Aston Villa face Brendan Rodger’s Leicester City in round fifteen of the Premier League, coming off the back of Steven Gerrard’s first defeat in charge against Manchester City on Wednesday night.
Villa showed plenty of positive signs in the midweek game, despite their 2-1 loss, with Douglas Luiz looking back to his best in a slightly more advanced role in the midfield, and striker Ollie Watkins looking sharp with his fine goal against the reigning champions.
Villa sit in 13th position on 16 points and look to mount a mid-season charge into the top half of the table with all three points this Sunday afternoon. Leicester is three points ahead of them in 10th, and look to break back into the top six with a win.
There will be very little time to prepare and recover between games in December, therefore the claret and blue side will have to quickly forget their recent defeat and have their sights set on beating their east midlands opponents.
Gerrard will face up against his former manager and, of more recent times, an Old-Firm rival in Brendan Rodgers who will both know each other well from their time together at Liverpool.
The pair have a close relationship, with the duo coming ever so close to winning the Merseyside club their first Premier League title in 2013/14, but for a disappointing collapse towards the end of the campaign.
The two will lock horns once again, but with different sides, and it is bound to be quite the contest at Villa Park. Gerrard will be aiming to get his side back to winning ways, and Rodgers will be looking to extend their current three-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
ARTHUR LABINJO-HUGHES
TEAM NEWS
Aston Villa are expected to be without winger Leon Bailey until the end of December/start of the new year after boss Steven Gerrard confirmed the Jamaican suffered a muscular injury in the midweek fixture. The November manager of the month nominee said:
“Unfortunately, Leon Bailey has had a scan and that’s confirmed that it’s a muscle injury in that quad area. It’s going to be quite a long one. He’ll be missing for a number of weeks. It’s difficult to put a date on that right now, but we won’t see him before Christmas.”
– Steven Gerrard providing an update on the condition of Leon Bailey.
Danny Ings is being considered for the game against Leicester City too after the Englishman missed the midweek game and was kept on the bench against Crystal Palace last week. Gerrard provided an update on the 29-year-old in yesterday’s press conference:
“Danny Ings is one that we’re working closely with and we’ll give him every chance before making a decision on him tomorrow.”
– Gerrard on Danny Ings’ fitness ahead of Sunday’s game against Leicester City.
Ings last scored in the disappointing 3-2 collapse against midlands rival Wolverhampton Wanderers – a game that featured second in the run of defeats which spelt the end of Dean Smith’s time at the club.
Trezeguet will miss the game as confirmed earlier in the week by Villa’s Head Coach, who explained that the Egyptian will feature for the under 23 side in the coming weeks as the final part of his rehabilitation process.
Bertrand Traore remains in the physiotherapy room as he looks to make a return to fitness before the end of the year, and no update was given on Matt Targett’s condition after the left-back was taken off in the first half in the recent fixture with what appeared to be a head injury. As a result, we can assume he is fine and available for the game on Sunday afternoon.
Villa Park welcomed back Morgan Sanson against City when the Frenchman replaced Marvelous Nakamba in the 77th minute. The box to box midfielder looked sharp as he appeared in a Premier League game for the first time since April’s 3-1 win over Fulham.
As for Leicester City, who have had quite an unlucky campaign in regards to the treatment table, they can expect to be without defenders Wesley Fofana, James Justin and Ricardo Pereira who all look set to miss a large part of the season with long-term injuries of their own.
A big miss for the Foxes will be that of Youri Tielemans who is currently out with a calf-related injury sustained in a 1-1 draw against Leeds United at the start of November. The Belgian international has looked spectacular at times in the heart of the midfield and has scored many mouth-watering goals, with stand-out efforts against Manchester United and Brentford.
Aside from this however, Leicester can expect a full squad to choose from, and (super) Marc Albrighton will be making a return to his former club after featuring for the claret and blues between 2009 and 2014 and spending his youth career in the Villa academy.
THE OPPONENTS
This week’s opponents Leicester City sit in 10th position on nineteen points after a relatively mixed campaign thus far. Their schedule has certainly been a packed one, with participation in the Premier League, Europa League and the Carabao Cup.
The Foxes look set to progress from their Europa League group as they currently sit top on eight points, but it is a well-contested table with Spartak Moscow and Napoli sitting on seven points, and Legia Warsaw still in it on six. Their final group game is away against Napoli at the fiery Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Brendan Rodger’s side remains in the Carabao Cup after defeating Millwall by two goals to nil to kickstart their cup campaign, and then Brighton & Hove Albion on penalties in the next round. The blues travel to Anfield to play Liverpool in the quarter-final stages, as they look to win their fourth league cup, winning it most recently in the 1999/2000 season.
Leicester also took part in this season’s Community Shield after beating Chelsea in last year’s FA Cup. Brendan Rodgers and his side were able to outwit Pep Guardiola and his Man City side, courtesy of a Youri Tielemans screamer – a goal that is worthy of winning any football match.
Brendan Rodgers is a prestigious head coach, who has achieved plenty and improved many clubs around the British leagues, including Swansea City, Liverpool and a standout spell at Celtic between 2016 and 2019, where the Northern Irish manager helped the Scottish side to three consecutive league titles, getting the better of Steven Gerrard’s former Rangers side.
Rodgers is renowned for playing attacking, possession-based football, and has experimented with a number of formations and systems this season to continue his positive footballing mantra. Injuries and rotation have definitely had a part to play, with the Foxes often deployed in a 3-4-1-2 shape, as well as a variety of 4-back formations.
There is an emphasis on the use of high-flying full-backs in a Brendan Rodgers system which, over the years, has seen players such as Kieran Tierney and Ben Chilwell improve and win big money moves to clubs such as Arsenal and Chelsea. The former Celtic manager has brought the best out of Ricardo Periera during his time at the club, and Timothy Castagne and Luke Thomas seeing a lot of the ball down the Leicester wings.
Jamie Vardy is a player that has thrived under Rodgers, due to the striker’s impressive attacking movement which has seen him score several goals since his arrival to the league. Under the manager’s supervision, Vardy was able to win the 19/20 golden boot award with a remarkable 23 goals scored over the course of the season. The former Fleetwood Town man enjoys playing Aston Villa, having scored five goals in seven games against the Villans. The 34 year-old is certainly one to look out for this weekend.
Rodgers had led his Leicester side to two consecutive 5th place finishes, and has only narrowly missed out UEFA Champions League football by a matter of points. His managerial abilities are clear to see and his successes have been recognised by a number of big footballing figures over the years. His Liverpool successor, Jurgen Klopp, had this to say about the 48 year-old:
“Brilliant team. What they do is really good. Exciting, fresh; defend well; play football and are especially threatening in counter-attacks.”
– Jurgen Klopp on his Liverpool predecessor Brendan Rodgers (https://www.coachesvoice.com/brendan-rodgers-coach-watch-leicester-liverpool-celtic/ ).
Despite their reasonably disappointing position in the league, Leicester City have shown that they are still incredibly capable and possess the ability to beat anyone in the league. It will be another tough test for Steven Gerrard up against his old manager at Liverpool – can the new boss get the better of his old boss?
FINAL THOUGHTS
I typically start this section of the preview by saying “another tough game for Aston Villa” as no side in the Premier League can be underestimated, and it is no different for this next fixture against Leicester City.
The Foxes are a side that are well coached and full of quality, technically-gifted players who have got the better of Villa over recent times. We have shown that we can compete with some of the best teams in the league however, and if Wednesday’s game is anything to go by, we certainly have a good chance at getting all three points.
Once again, we will need all our players to work hard and meet the strong demands that Gerrard asks of his team. Due to the width and movement of the Leicester attack, the defence will need to be watertight, and Emi Martinez may need to make the occasional save. Emi Buendia will be key for Villa for me, and the Argentine needs to step up and demonstrate the creativity and flair that we have seen from him at times.
It is hard not to feel positive under the Gerrard era, as the instant impact he has had on the club has been substantial and Villa look a different side in such a short space of time. For that reason, I am going to edge towards a home win – let’s go 1-0 Villa, with talisman Emi Buendia grabbing his second of the season.
Up the Villa!
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