Are Emery’s Lions exacerbating the Foxes’ crisis?
In addition to Chelsea coach Graham Potter, Leicester coach Brendan Rodgers was also hit in early April. The manager, under whom the FA Cup was won in 2021, was shown the door after seven consecutive games without a win (one draw, six defeats). The Foxes slipped to 19th place after a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace. Leicester’s betting on a turnaround against Aston Villa on Tuesday evening is correspondingly ill-starred. After all, the Lions are a team with a lot of form coming to the King Power Stadium.
The Villans have picked up 13 points from a possible 15 in their last five league games to climb to ninth in the table. They are just two points off an international spot. Consequently, hopes of returning to Europe for the first time since 2008 have been rekindled. Accordingly, the forecast for Leicester against Aston Villa is that the Lions will be able to confirm their upward trend in the East Midlands.
However, Aston Villa have not been overly successful at the King Power Stadium recently. The showpiece Birmingham club have won just two of their last 13 Premier League away games at Leicester City (five draws, six defeats). But: the Foxes have failed to score in their last two Premier League home games against the Lions in a row.
Considering that Villa have conceded just one goal in their last five league games (four wins, one draw), we therefore find the greatest value in the combined double chance X2 bet at under 3.5 goals.
Leicester – Statistics & current form
After the spectacular successes of the recent past, when the English Championship was won in 2016 and the FA Cup in 2021, Leicester City Football Club is currently in acute danger of relegation.
The Foxes recently picked up just one point out of a possible 18 from their last six league games, which means they are currently in 19th place with ten matchdays still to play. The East Midlands side are one point off the bottom and in need of a quick turnaround.
Is Graham Potter a candidate for the Foxes?
With a heavy heart, those responsible have now parted company with Brendan Rodgers, who led the club to their first and only overall FA Cup victory just two years ago. Adam Sadler and goalkeeping coach Mike Stowell will take over on an interim basis until a successor is found.
According to English media reports, this duo will also take charge on the sidelines against the Villans, while the club management is apparently already negotiating with Graham Potter, who was sacked at the same time at Chelsea. Against the Lions, the aim is to build on their last clash, when Leicester recorded a 4-2 away win in Birmingham.
The third weakest defence in the Premier League
Generally, the East Midlands side have a lot of attacking punch. Leicester have already scored 39 goals, which is two more than the visitors, who are ten positions higher. This may be one of the reasons why the odds on Leicester against Aston Villa are slightly in favour of the Foxes, who have been very sloppy defensively so far.
Not only do the 2016 English champions have the third weakest defence in the entire Premier League with 49 goals conceded, but the Foxes have also been very careless with leads. Leicester have dropped a staggering 22 points in winning positions so far. Even on Sunday, they squandered a 1-0 lead at Crystal Palace (final score: 1:2).
Last games of Leicester:
Premier League
01/04/2023 – Crystal Palace 2 – 1 Leicester
18/03/2023 – Brentford 1 – 1 Leicester
11/03/2023 – Leicester 1 – 3 Chelsea FC
05/03/2023 – Southampton 1 – 0 Leicester
FA Cup
01/03/2023 – Leicester 1 – 2 Blackburn
Aston Villa – Statistics & current form
Aston Villa Football Club returned to the Premier League in the summer of 2019, where they have mostly struggled to stay in the league in recent seasons. Last season, the traditional club, one of only five English clubs to ever win the Champions League (or European Cup of Champions) alongside seven domestic league titles, finished 14th.
In the new season, however, the Villans were really stuck in the bottom of the table, which is why those in charge sacked Steven Gerrard and introduced Unai Emery as their new coach shortly before the World Cup break.
A phenomenal points average of 1.93 under Emery
Under the Spaniard, the Lions also achieved a sustainable turnaround. Nine of the 15 Premier League games under Unai Emery were won (two draws, four defeats), which means that the Villans not only no longer have anything to do with the relegation battle, but can even hope for Europe with only two points behind sixth place.
Two of the international places are currently occupied by Brighton and Brentfort – two teams that are guaranteed to lose ground in the final stretch of the season, which is why Aston Villa still have all their options with a good final spurt.
Scored in all 15 league games under Unai Emery
Lately, the Lions, who have scored at least one goal in all 15 Premier League games under Unai Emery without exception – the longest run of any of the 20 Premier League clubs league-wide – have again been extremely in-form.
Our prediction for Leicester against Aston Villa is for a point for the visitors because the Villans have taken 13 of a possible 15 points from their last five league games. The Birmingham side have conceded just one goal in those five games and have also displayed a correspondingly high level of defensive quality.
Last matches played by Aston Villa:
Premier League
01/04/2023 – Chelsea FC 0 – 2 Aston Villa
18/03/2023 – Aston Villa 3 – 0 Bournemouth
12/03/2023 – West Ham 1 – 1 Aston Villa
04/03/2023 – Aston Villa 1 – 0 Crystal Palace
25/02/2023 – Everton 0 – 2 Aston Villa
Leicester – Aston Villa Direct Comparison / H2H Record
Head to head: 45 – 26 – 36
There have been a total of 107 meetings between the two teams so far and Leicester City lead the head-to-head comparison with 45 wins. Not only have the Foxes remained unbeaten in 11 of their last 13 home games against the Lions (six wins, five draws), but they also won the first leg in Birmingham convincingly 4-2.
Leicester – Aston Villa Tip
The fact that the betting odds on Leicester against Aston Villa swing slightly in the direction of the home side is quite a questionable assessment. While the Foxes have picked up just one point from a possible 18 in their last six games, the Lions have 13 points in the same period. The Villans are sniffing at European competition and have been particularly convincing defensively of late. The Birmingham side have conceded just one goal in their last five league games.
In this context, it is very coherent not only to bet that the Villans can also score at the King Power Stadium, but also that the away game will not be overly high-scoring. Accordingly, there is a lot of value to be found in Leicester vs Aston Villa in the combined bet on the double chance X2 at under 3.5 goals.
