Leicester City Vs Aston Villa
Leicester City Vs Aston Villa Saturday 23 April, 2022 – 15:00 (BST)
English Premier League
Pick: Both Teams to Score & Leicester or Aston Villa to WIN
Odds: 13/10
Bookmaker: Betfair (Bet Builder)
(All betting odds correct at time of writing: 21 April 2022)
Preview: Steven Gerrard secured his third win as Aston Villa manager in the reverse of this fixture, a 2-1 victory at Villa Park in December. Since then, however, his team has struggled for consistency and they approach this game at Leicester City‘s King Power Stadium on the back of four successive defeats.
English Premier League Betting at Betfair
Table of Contents
Leicester City – Upcoming European semi-final a distraction?
Any faint hope that Leicester might play themselves into the race for European qualification through the league were all but quashed in midweek, denied all three points at Goodison Park as Everton scored late to snatch a 1-1 draw. It was a more than fair result, though, the Foxes once again struggling to carve out meaningful chances with that a third league game in a row creating less than 0.9xGF.
Balancing commitments at home with those in Europe hasn’t been easy for Brendan Rodgers, who continues to rotate his squad on a regular basis. More personnel changes are expected ahead of Thursday’s European semi-final versus Roma. Hardly ideal for a side whose league form has been streaky, if not disastrous, for some time, with four wins in their last eight (D2 L2) but the last six results reading LWDWLD.
Key Stat: Both teams have scored in Leicester City’s past five Premier League matches. Here at the King Power Stadium, meanwhile, the Foxes have kept one clean sheet across the last six home league games and only four from 15 such fixtures all season.
Aston Villa – Gerrard struggling to regain impetus?
Evidence of the enthusiasm which greeted Steven Gerrard’s appointment in November showing signs of waning are plain to see. In his first six Premier League games as Aston Villa manager, the former Liverpool skipper picked up four wins – as many as his team have won in 14 subsequent matches in the competition. With this drop-off hampering their bid for a first top-half finish in England top tier since 2011.
Gerrard heads to the East Midlands seeking a league double over opponents Leicester, after a 2-1 win over the Foxes at Villa Park in December, but with his team in wretched form. The Villains come into the weekend off the back of four successive defeats. The latest a 4-0 home drubbing at the hands of Tottenham, despite managing eight shots on target – their most in the top-flight without scoring for 12 years.
Key Stat: Aston Villa are the only team in the Premier League not to have a drawn any of their away fixtures so far this season (W6 L11). They will be keen to avoid a third consecutive away league defeat here, following successive 2-1 reverses at West Ham and Wolves.
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Leicester City Vs Aston Villa Betting Advice
This fixture falls five days before a European semi-final, versus Italian giants Roma, for Leicester. With that in mind, it is unlikely Brendan Rodgers will take risks on certain individuals. Meaning another bout of changes incoming. As such, the hosts look vulnerable even when facing opponents stuck in something of a rut, Aston Villa having lost their last four league encounters in what is their worst run under Gerrard.
Leicester City Vs Aston Villa – Key Facts:
- Having beaten their opponents 2-1 as the home side earlier in the season, Aston Villa are now seeking to complete a first league double over Leicester City since 2003-04.
- Determined to deny Villa such a record is Leicester’s Harvey Barnes. The Foxes winger has scored first-half goals in three of his last four appearances against Aston Villa, netting the game’s opening goal when the sides met in December of this season.
- Each of the last five Leicester City league games featured both teams scoring, while the same occurred in Aston Villa’s two previous away matches.
Such a sharp drop-off has seen Villa slide into the bottom half of the Premier League, with only two sides now separating them from the bottom three – albeit they are in no danger whatsoever of being relegated. Steven Gerrard does boast a wealth of attacking options though. So, with Leicester regularly seeing both teams score and the visitors not dealing in draws, backing BTTS and either side to win makes sense.
Best Betting Odds – Leicester City Vs Aston Villa
Leicester City – 17/10 (WilliamHill)
Draw – 12/5 (PaddyPower)
Aston Villa – 13/8 (Betfair)
