Fixtures
- Leicester City Vs. Aston Villa – Sat, Aug 31st 2024, 15:00
Aston Villa go head-to-head with Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
The Foxes are back in the top flight after a one-year absence, kicking off their campaign with a draw against Tottenham Hotspur and defeat to Fulham.
Steve Cooper replaced Enzo Maresca in the summer and earned his first victory as boss with a 4-0 success versus Tranmere Rovers in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
Villa are two points better off than City thanks to an opening day win against West Ham United.
Arsenal got the better of Unai Emery’s team last time out, however, triumphing 2-0 at Villa Park.
Stats
Only Manchester City (23) and Arsenal (20) have won more Premier League away games than the 15 Villa have since Unai Emery’s first away match in charge in November 2022.
Leicester have lost seven of their 28 Premier League meetings with Aston Villa (W11, D10).
However, Villa are unbeaten in their last three matches at the King Power Stadium with their two wins in those matches twice as many as they managed in their first 11 Premier League visits.
Steve Cooper is looking to avoid becoming the first Leicester boss since Paulo Sousa in August 2010 to fail to win any of their first three league games in charge.
Villa have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last seven top-flight matches, conceding a total of 15 goals across those games.
In their most recent Premier League campaign in 2022-23, Leicester took just one point from their opening seven league fixtures.
Villa have won eight of their nine league matches against promoted opposition under Emery, only dropping points in a 1-1 home draw versus Sheffield United in December 2023.
The Foxes’ only clean sheet in their last 25 top-flight matches was a goalless draw with Newcastle in May 2023.
The Last Meeting
Bertrand Traoré registered a superb 87th-minute winner as Villa earned a last-gasp 2-1 victory at 10-man Leicester.
The substitute had only been on the pitch two minutes when he capitalised on a loose pass from Wilfred Ndidi to curl home a fantastic first-time strike from 25 yards.
Ollie Watkins had earlier netted for the sixth successive away game to fire Villa ahead midway through the first half.
His goal was cancelled out by Harvey Barnes’ fine touch and strike shortly after the half-hour mark.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was dismissed for a second yellow card with 20 minutes remaining, before the late drama unfolded.
Team News
Villa will be without Matty Cash and Diego Carlos for Saturday’s trip.
Long-term absentees Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara continue to make progress with their respective recoveries, but the clash against the Foxes comes too soon.
For Leicester, Conor Coady returned in midweek against Tranmere on his return from a hamstring injury, but Patson Daka and Jakub Stolarczyk are still out.
Managers’ Pre-Match Thoughts
“It’s going to be very difficult and we have to respect them because if we don’t they can threaten us. We have to be focussed on the small details to stop their press, to stop their transition and their positions when they are attacking. They have good players with skills. We are aware of the difficulties we are going to face, but we are planning to get something from there and play being demanding in our tactical idea and imposing it.” – Unai Emery
“You have to have belief in your work, each other and the plan. We’re playing against a Champions League team who’ve been on the rise for a couple of years. You have to respect that, but we’ve got to ensure we take the game to Villa and believe in our concepts.” – Steve Cooper
