Leicester City vs. Aston Villa
Venue: King Power Stadium
Kick off: 7:15PM
Surprise package Aston Villa will be looking to maintain their perfect start to the Premier League season when they take on Leicester City at the King Power Stadium this evening.
The Villans have won three games from three so far, including an incredible 7-2 victory over Liverpool last time out, while Leicester’s winning streak came to an end two weeks ago.
Nearly a fortnight on from their historic win over the champions, many Villa supporters are still coming to terms with what they watched unfold at Villa Park.
Ollie Watkins scored a first-half hat-trick and Jack Grealish had a hand in five of the goals, as Dean Smith’s men recorded one of the Premier League’s most shocking ever results.
That win came on the back of victories over Sheffield United and Fulham without conceding, leaving Villa second in the table with a game in hand to play on leaders Everton.
Going further back, the Villans are now unbeaten in seven league games, winning five of those and keeping a clean sheet in all but one.
Whisper it quietly, but there are plenty of parallels between Villa’s start to 2020-21 and Leicester’s memorable run to the Premier League title four years ago.
Like Villa, the Foxes won their opening three league games this term, culminating in a 5-2 win away at Manchester City to make it 12 goals scored in those three matches.
However, the momentum built by Brendan Rodgers’s side was halted by West Ham United before the international break, with the Hammers winning 3-0 at the King Power Stadium.
On a weekend of massive shocks last time out, Leicester’s defeat went under the radar somewhat, but Rodgers has had a fortnight to work out exactly what went wrong in that game.
A home meeting with in-form Villa will be a tough assignment, though City do have a very good record in this fixture, winning four of the last five and drawing the other.
In fact, Villa have won just one of their 11 Premier League away games against Leicester, losing the last three in a row since a 5-0 victory in January 2004.
Leicester City possible XI: Schmeichel, Castagne, Morgan, Fofana, Justin, Mendy, Under, Tielemans, Maddison, Barnes, Vardy.
Aston Villa possible XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Luiz, Barkley, Trezeguet, Watkins, Grealish.