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The West Midlands vs the East Midlands. It’s Aston Villa vs Leicester City.
A crucial clash for both sides as three points for the hosts would propel them closer to the European places and victory for the Foxes could keep their top four hopes alive and well.
Aston Villa go into this clash in the hunt to close the gap on the European places.
Leicester City, on the other hand, are level on points with Manchester United and victory against the Villans would reduce the deficit to the high-flying Manchester City and more importantly stave off pressure from teams below them.
The hosts were victorious the last time they played at Villa Park as they faced a struggling Arsenal.
Ollie Watkins’ second-minute goal secured the victory for the West Midlands side on home soil as the Gunners tried to throw all sorts at the Villans, but the claret and blues remained strong and were able to grind out the victory and ultimately the three points.
In their last match though, they ran out a 0-0 draw on the south coast against Brighton & Hove Albion as a dominant Seagulls side were unable to get anything more than a point from the encounter.
That draw was only Villa’s third of the season, but they would have definitely taken the solitary point after the match they endured.
Brendan Rodgers’ men have played four times in the space of two weeks with a 0-0 draw away at Wolves, a 1-0 victory over Brighton in the FA Cup, a successful 3-1 victory over Liverpool in the Premier League and a 0-0 draw away at Slavia Praha.
The Foxes’ have only lost once away from home with the East Midlands falling to a 3-0 defeat against Liverpool back in November.
Leicester were able to secure a fantastic 3-1 victory over the Reds last weekend, correcting the defeat they sustained at Anfield with a much-needed three points.
The current Premier League champions were ahead in the 67th minute after Mohamed Salah’s curler found the back of the net.
A total collapse in the last 15 minutes of the match saw the Reds fall to their third consecutive league defeat and their sixth defeat of the Premier League season.
James Maddison was able to sneak in a free-kick in the 78th minute which equalled the score for the Foxes. A horrendous error from Alisson saw the goalkeeper collide with new signing Ozan Kabak to gift Jamie Vardy an easy tap-in.
Harvey Barnes capped off the afternoon for the hosts after he slotted the ball beyond the Liverpool shot-stopper to set the score at 3-1 in Leicester’s favour.
In the reverse fixture between the two sides, Aston Villa came out on top after a Ross Barkley goal in added time of the match.
Leicester will be looking to avenge themselves away from home and impose a gameplan that will convey to the Villa players and staff why the Foxes are real top four contenders this season.
The Villans have not beaten the East Midlands side at Villa Park in the Premier League since December 2014. A tightly contested battle saw Villa take the win after Alan Hutton’s goal in the 71st minute.
That season, the West Midlands side narrowly avoided relegation by three points and Leicester made their great escape finishing 14th in the league that campaign avoiding the drop by six points.
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