Premier League: Villa Set to Raid the King Power

Leicester City vs Aston Villa

East meets West in the Midlands derby on Saturday when Premier League new boys Leicester City welcome Aston Villa in a tasty clash at the King Power Stadium.

Both teams come into the game on the back of a loss—the Foxes going down to a 2-1 defeat away to Fulham whils Villa lost 0-2 at home to Arsenal.

And so, we can expect a hugely competitive bout between two teams with proud traditions. The Foxes famously won the league in 2016, while the Villans, led by Unai Emery qualified for the 2024/25 Champions League with a fourth-place finish last term.

Leicester bounced back to the top table at the first attempt last season, but after their manager Enzo Maresca hot footed it over to Chelsea, another Midlands based manager took over; former Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper is now the Foxes’ boss.

Talking Points

A big three days ahead for Leicester

The last thing Foxes fans want, after promotion from the Championship last season, is to drop straight back down to the second tier. But I have bad news for the Leicester faithful … they are favourites to get relegated according to the early Premier League 2024 betting odds.

Cooper will be desperate to get some reinforcements into his squad before the transfer window closes on Friday but he also has to keep an eye on potential outgoings.

Centre back Wout Faes has been a big player for the Foxes since his arrival back in 2022. He’s a ball playing defender and a threat up front, as he showed, scoring the equaliser in Leicester’s 2-1 loss to the Cottagers. The Belgian star has started in both Leicester’s games this season but reports from the regional press suggest he may now be looking for a move, disillusioned by the lack of activity at the club over the summer.

Faes would be a serious loss to the Foxes and Cooper may need to look for defensive replacements but, having been lucky to get a point in their opener against Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester also need new blood up front to support the evergreen but ageing Jamie Vardy.

Lack of investment could cost the Foxes dearly and it will be fascinating to see who comes in the door over the next few days … and who goes through the exit.

With ten shots and four on target, Cooper’s team gave it a good go against Fulham; but they need Premier League 2024 results and pretty soon … and they won’t find it easy on Saturday.

Foxes could face a Watkins backlash

To meet title chasing Arsenal on the second weekend of the new season was a big test for Unai Emery’s side, and his former team had just too much quality in the end. The Villa manager was philosophical after the game saying “There is satisfaction when we win, but we have to accept where we are in our process. Arsenal are more experienced, more mature, they stood strong in the last two years.”

Villa won the shot count against the Gunners by 11 to nine, whilst Arsenal edged the shots on target by four to three. But the big moment in the game came after Villa star striker Ollie Watkins had missed two good chances, when the England man was denied by a remarkable save from David Raya when everyone in the ground expected the net to bulge.

Watkins will be hungry for goals; he’s a class act as he proved last season and at Euro 2024 for England, and the Foxes may well be on the run on Saturday when he takes aim.

Unlike Leicester, the Villans have done most of their summer business, keeping an eye on the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules and settling their deals early on. Moussa Diaby and Douglas Luiz have left the club whilst Amadou Onana has arrived to bolster the midfield and he has slotted in nicely alongside John McGinn and Youri Tielemans.

History

The head-to-head meetings tell the story of a ding-dong battle between these two Midlands giants and Leicester have the slightest edge, winning 12 to Aston Villa’s 11 whilst there have been 11 draws. When they met in the 2022/23 campaign, there was success on the road for both teams as Leicester won 4-2 at Villa Park while the Villans won 2-1 at the King Power Stadium.

Betting Tip

Villa are at SBOTOP odds of 1.75 to win this clash and 3.40 to draw, with the Foxes at 3.83 to win. I suspect it will be a long season for Cooper and his men, and Villa will be too good for them on Saturday.

 

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