Aston Villa-Leeds is a match for the 20th day of the Premier League and is played on Friday at 21:00: stats, TV, lineups, predictions
The 20th day of the Premier League, the first of the return leg, opens with the match at Villa Park between Aston Villa and Leeds. A team that has been revitalised by the arrival of Unai Emery on the bench and another that still cannot get away from the relegation zone. At the other end of the table, it was a 0-0 draw last October, but the Villans were still led by Steven Gerrard, who was sacked just before the long break for the World Cup in Qatar.
The former Villarreal coach has been in charge for seven games, in which the change of pace compared to the management of the former Liverpool captain has been evident. More on the level of play than in terms of results: Aston Villa with the Spanish coach has won three games, lost as many and drawn one, but unlike a few months ago it creates more danger and in the last three days of the championship has always scored at least one goal. It is now eleventh, just three points behind Chelsea, and would appear to be heading for the left-hand side of the table, where it should be by squad value. On New Year’s Day they achieved a resounding success at home to Tottenham (0-2) but three days later did not go beyond a draw with Wolverhampton.
Badly, on the other hand, in the FA Cup: in the national cup, Aston Villa were surprised by Stevenage, a League Two team that beat Birmingham 2-1.
Marsch
Emery will now be able to concentrate solely on the league, considering that in November his team had also exited the League Cup. Leeds‘ performance in the FA Cup was also uninspiring: the Whites drew 2-2 with Cardiff City and will be forced into a replay in Wales. Victory in the Premier League has been missing for four rounds: after the break Jesse Marsch’s men lost to Manchester City and shared the stakes with Newcastle (0-0) and West Ham (2-2).
The prediction
A tight match looms between two teams who both want to improve their performance. Leeds have not collected much on the road so far – only Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest have done worse – but it is also true that Aston Villa have had mixed results in front of their fans. Emery’s men will, in our opinion, avoid defeat in a game where the total goals should be at least two.
The likely Aston Villa-Leeds line-ups
- ASTON VILLA (4-4-2): Martinez; Young, Konsa, Mings, Digne; Cash, Kamara, Douglas Luiz, Buendia; Watkins, Bailey.
- LEEDS (4-2-3-1): Meslier; Ayling, Koch, Cooper, Struijk; Roca, Adams; Aaronson, Gnonto, Summerville; Rodrigo.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
