Aston Villa will look to bounce back from their defeat at the hands of Manchester City when they host Leicester City on Sunday.
Steven Gerrard, Aston Villa’s new manager, guided his team to wins against Brighton and Crystal Palace before seeing his side go down against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City 1-2 mid-week. The loss left Villa 13th of the Premier League table with 16 points.
Leicester City head into the match against Villa after playing a 2-2 pulsating draw against Southampton in their mid-week fixture. Leicester find themselves 10th in the league standing having accumulated 19 points from 14 league games.
Aston Villa
Midfielders Leon Bailey, Bertrand Traoré and Trézéguet are out of contention for selection due to their injuries. Bailey and Traoré are suffering from thigh injuries. Trézéguet is not match fit either. Defender Matt Targett is doubtful for the match owing to a head injury. A muscle injury to forward Danny Ings makes him a doubtful starter too.
If Targett doesn’t start for this match, then his place will be taken by Ashley Young on the field.
Jacob Ramsey, who is yet to feature for Villa in the league this season, is being monitored for a few niggles. The niggle could again prohibit his start and make him sit on the bench.
Leicester City
Defenders Ricardo Pereira, James Justin and Wesley Fofana will not be available for selection for this contest. Pereira is nursing a hamstring injury. Justin is lacking match fitness and a leg injury has ruled Fofana out of action until at least January. In midfield, Youri Tielemans’ lack of match fitness will make him a doubtful starter.
Leicester City manager Brendon Rodgers declared that James Madison will start in the midfield. Midfielder Boubakary Soumaré was replaced at half-time against Southampton. He could start but may not play the full quota of 90 minutes.
Forwards Ayoze Pérez and Kelechi Iheanacho have not got much game time this season. Their inclusion in the match remains highly unlikely.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Emiliano Martínez, Matthew Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Matt Targett, Marvelous Nakamba, Douglas Luiz, Emiliano Buendía, John McGinn, Anwar El Ghazi, Ollie Watkins
Leicester City (4-2-3-1): Kasper Schmeichel, Timothy Castagne, Jonny Evans, Çaglar-Söyüncü, Luke Thomas, Kiernan-Dewsbury-Hall, Wilfred Ndidi, Harvey Barnes, James Maddison, Ayoze Pérez, Jamie Vardy
Ollie Watkins – Aston Villa
Forward Ollie Watkins has scored four goals and assisted in one for Villa this season. Watkins’ strong aerial duals could prove handy against Leicester City. Watkins is averaging 2.1 shots per game. Leicester’s defence should be careful against Watkins or he could score goals.
Jamie Vardy – Leicester City
Leicester’s star striker Jamie Vardy is enjoying yet another good season. He finds himself second on the list of top Premier goal scorers for this season after finding the back of the net nine times. Vardy has also assisted once. Vardy could prove to be the match-winner for Leicester against Villa.
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