Aston Villa v Leeds – Line-ups, stats and preview
Aston Villa take on Leeds on Saturday in the Premier League.
Table of Contents
Aston Villa v Leeds Match Preview
Aston Villa’s unlikely title charge has hit the skids in recent weeks but Unai Emery’s side head into the weekend only three points behind Manchester City in second – and eight off top spot.
Emery prioritised the Premier League over the FA Cup last weekend and saw his side beaten by Newcastle and wil be hoping his decision pays off on Saturday in a rare 3pm kick-off for Villa.
The title may be out of reach but Champions League football certainly isn’t and home fans will be cheered by the fact that Villa have not lost any of their 18 top-flight matches against promoted clubs under Emery.
Leeds are not out of the woods at the bottom of the table yet and head into the weekend six points clear of the drop zone.
Daniel Farke’s side have turned into draw specialists of late, picking up seven draws since the start of December. Another solid, if not spectacular, performance in Birmingham could be the order of the day.
Aston Villa v Leeds team news
Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot was sent-off last weekend so Emiliano Martinez will definitely return between the posts.
Villa re very light in midfield with Youri Tielemans, John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara all still out. Ross Barkley could get some rare Premier League action, while right-back Matty Cash remains a doubt.
Leeds are without forward Noah Okafor who has a hamstring injury. Pascal Struijk, Anton Stach and Daniel James should all return though.
Aston Villa v Leeds expected line-ups
Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen; Onana, Luiz; Sancho, Rogers, Buendia; Watkins
Leeds: Darlow; Justin, Rodon, Struijk; Bogle, Ampadu, Gruev, Gudmundsson; Gnonto, Aaronson; Calvert-Lewin
The stats
- Leeds have lost their last two Premier League games against Aston Villa, last losing three in a row between January and December 2000.
- Since the start of December, only Manchester City and Manchester United (1 each) have lost fewer Premier League games than Leeds United (2), although the Whites have the most draws in that timeframe too (7).
- Leeds have won just one of their last 18 Premier League away games (D5 L12), beating Wolves 3-1 in September. Though they’re winless in their last 10 on the road, five of the last six have finished level, with the Whites coming from 2-0 down to draw at Chelsea last time out.
- There has been just seven goals scored in Aston Villa’s last six Premier League games (4 for, 3 against), an average of just 1.2 per game. In their previous six games, more than treble the number of goals were scored in Villa’s games (23 – 3.8 per game).
How to watch Aston Villa v Leeds
The match is a rare Satuday 3pm kick-off for Villa so is not available to broadcast or stream anywhere in the UK.
Prediction
Aston Villa
Leeds
Goals have been hard to come by for both these sides of late but expect Villa to just about have enough to get the win.
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