Leicester City will look to begin 2025 on a high note as they clash with Midland rivals Aston Villa at the Villa Park.
The Foxes are on the back of four consecutive defeats and desperately need points to fight for survival. Despite showing some fight in Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s opening two games, Leicester have been extremely poor since then, with 13 goals conceded in the previous four fixtures.
A win for Villa could see them enter the top five and challenge for continental competition, while a Foxes victory may propel Van Nistelrooy’s side out of the relegation zone.
Aston Villa vs Leicester City – Match Details
Date: January 4, 2024.
Time: 15:00 GMT.
Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham.
Aston Villa vs Leicester City – Team News
Pau Torres is the only name on the injury list for the hosts, but Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers will also be unavailable due to suspensions.
For Leicester, Ricardo Pereira, Mads Hermansen, Wout Faes, Wilfred Ndidi and Abdul Fatawu are sidelined due to injuries and will miss the match.
Aston Villa vs Leicester City – Match Preview
Following Leicester’s promotion to the Premier League, the directive from the board to Steve Cooper was clear – achieve survival. And for the first 15 game weeks, the Foxes were just about looking on course to stay up. However, the last four games have made a massive dent in their survival hopes. They lost all four games, including a calamitous home defeat to relegation rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, and have watched all of their main rivals pick up points.
The Foxes are in disarray at the moment, and Villa will look to capitalise on this to boost their hopes for continental qualification. While the Villans are an immensely talented and well-coached team, they don’t look as strong as last season. They sit 9th in the league standings but are just three points off fifth-placed Newcastle.
Despite Leicester having shipped in the joint most goals in the league (42), Villa will also be wary of internal defensive fragilities. Their 31 goals conceded is the highest for a team in the league’s top half, and Torress’ injury makes them more vulnerable at the back.
Leicester have a good attack and will likely aim to sit back when Villa have the ball and hit them with a counterattack in transition. However, keeping the Villans’ attack will be no easy task. Despite Duran missing the game, the hosts have formidable attackers who are bound to get a couple of decent opportunities during the game.
Although Villa will enter the game as firm favourites, Leicester must believe they can snatch a point. Another lacklustre loss could leave the Foxes five points from safety, and Van Nistelrooy will have to find a way to conjure up yet another Leicester miracle.
Aston Villa vs Leicester City – Predicted Starting Lineups
Leicester City predicted lineup: Jakub Stolarczyk, James Justin, Conor Coady, Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen; Boubakary Soumare, Harry Winks, Bilal El Khannouss; Facundo Buonanotte, Jamie Vardy, Stephy Mavididi.
Aston Villa predicted lineup: Emiliano Martínez; Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Diego Carlos, Lucas Digne; Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans, John McGinn; Leon Bailey, Jaden Philogene-Bidace, Ollie Watkins.
