segunda-feira, 9 de março de 2020

Leicester City vs Aston Villa Preview: Foxes look for revenge against Villans

Leicester City and Aston Villa meet in the Premier League at the King Power Stadium.



Leicester City take on Aston Villa for the fourth time this season as they seek revenge for the Carabao Cup defeat dealt to them by the Villans.
The Foxes returned to winning ways in their last match, a 1-0 victory over Birmingham City in the FA Cup, after they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to basement side Norwich City in their last Premier League outing.
Villa meanwhile will be hoping to put their Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City behind them as they look to kickstart their survival fight and climb out of the relegation zone.

Key Battle

Jamie Vardy looks to be returning to the side after recovering from injury, and the former England forward will be desperate to find the back of the net after suffering what has been his driest spell in front of goal for three years.
Standing in the striker's way will be current England international Tyrone Mings, who will be looking to coordinate his defence and prevent Vardy from ending his goal drought.

Last Meeting

Leicester fans would wince if they were to think of the last meeting between the two sides after a last minute Trezeguet goal dashed their dreams of a first cup final in 20 years.
The two sides went into the match with an aggregate score of 1-1 and Matt Targett gave the hosts a 12th minute lead. Kelechi Iheanacho responded with a goal of his own in the 72nd minute, but Trezeguet would have the final say after he stuck home in the 93rd minute to send his side to Wembley, sparking a pitch invasion.
The match was not short of controversy however, after a James Maddison effort was blocked by the outstretched arm of Marvelous Nakamba, though VAR adjudged it not to be a penalty.

Team News

Leicester City's top scorer, Jamie Vardy, is set to make a return to the side after nursing a calf injury that kept him out for two matches, while Ben Chilwell is to be assessed after suffering a hamstring strain.
John McGinn's return from injury is edging ever closer, but this match will come too soon for the midfielder to make his comback, potentially making an appearance against Chelsea on March 14.

Predicted Line-ups

Leicester: Schmeichel, Ricardo, Evans, Soyuncu, Fuchs; Ndidi; Barnes, Maddison, Tielemans, Perez; Vardy.
Aston Villa: Nyland; Guilbert, Engels, Mings, Targett, El Mohamady; Douglas Luiz, Nakamba; Grealish, Samatta. 

Managers' Comments

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers looked ahead to the end of season picture when evaluating what his side has to do in order to achieve Champions League football once again.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, he stated: "We’re going to need to win at least half of them and maybe more. It’s something we’re ready to embrace. We’re in a brilliant position.
"There may have been a subconscious feeling among the players, and with the gap.... That can happen to any team.
"We’re still well on track. In terms of our goal difference and everything we wanted to achieve."
Villa coach Dean Smith spoke about his opponents in his respective press conference, suggesting that the two teams have become very familiar with each other.
He said: "We know each other very well. We’ve played each other three times. They beat us 4-1 in the league at Villa Park and we’d had a couple of chances to take the lead before Tyrone got injured and they exposed us when Tyrone had the hamstring injury.
"Then, we went there to put in a good defensive display coming away with a 1-1 draw then we beat them at the death in the semi-final.
"We know on our day we can more than match them but they’re third for a reason. Brendan’s done a fantastic job."

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