Aston Villavs.Leicester

While Unai Emery's side have enjoyed a respectable first half of the campaign, they only sit in ninth position in the Premier League table.

That is a consequence of only accumulating four points from as many matches, Villa losing to Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United during that period.

However, remaining just six points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea, the West Midlands outfit can catapult themselves back up the standings with maximum points against the Foxes.

What streak are Villa looking to end?

During the opening weeks of the campaign, Jhon Duran put together an incredible scoring streak as a substitute, one of his winning goals coming at the King Power Stadium.

Although Duran is suspended for the game this weekend, the Colombia international has put Villa in a position to do something that they have not achieved since 2004.

Villa are bidding to register their first double over Leicester since that year when they scored eight times across two fixtures during 2003-04.

After a 3-1 triumph at Villa Park, David O'Leary's side ran riot in the East Midlands, remarkably scoring five goals during 18 second-half minutes.

That was one of the rare occasions that one of these teams have failed to score in this fixture. Only once in 14 league encounters at Villa Park has one club failed to net.

Heading into this encounter, Villa have netted at least twice in 12 of their most recent 17 fixtures at their home ground.

Leicester hoping recent history is extended

Ruud van Nistelrooy's side may be on a four-game losing streak in the Premier League but Leicester have fond memories of their recent trips to Villa Park.

Three wins have come from their last four such outings, the most recent success coming in February 2023 when they won 4-2 as James Maddison, Kelechi Iheanacho, Tete and Dennis Praet all got on the scoresheet.

That is Leicester's only win in the last five meetings with Villa, though, and they make the short trip to Villa Park having recorded four successive away defeats in the Premier League.

Written by

Darren Plant