Aston Villa welcome Leeds United to Villa Park in Friday Night Football.
Victory will see Villa stay 11th in the table and miss out on the top ten due to an inferior goal difference to Chelsea.
Leeds meanwhile can go 13th with at least one point ahead of the weekend’s remaining fixtures.
Team News
Leander Dendoncker is suspended for Villa after he was red carded in their shock FA Cup defeat to Stevenage last weekend.
Matty Cash and Ludwig Augustinsson (both knocks) are doubtful but Diego Carlos (Achilles) and John McGinn (hamstring) both remain absent.
Leeds could welcome Patrick Bamford back from a lengthy groin injury which has kept him out for over two months.
Crysencio Summerville is ruled out after he suffered an ankle injury during their 2-2 draw at Cardiff last weekend in the FA Cup.
Adam Forshaw (hip) is a doubt but Luis Sinisterra (foot), Archie Gray (toe) and Stuart Dallas (thigh) are still sidelined.
Stat Attack
- Aston Villa are unbeaten in four of their last five meetings against Leeds (W2, D2, L1).
- Leeds have lost just one of their last five visits to Elland Road (W2, D2, L1).
- Villa’s Phillippe Coutinho has scored in two of his three appearances against Leeds.
- Unai Emery’s Villains have conceded five goals in their last three league games at home (W1, D1, L1).
- Only one of Rodrigo’s 10 league goals for Leeds this season has been scored on his right foot.
Prediction
Having made several changes for their FA Cup defeat against Stevenage which saw them produce wasteful attacks and sloppy defending, Villa certainly should be back to their best here with several key players back in the line-up who too wasted chances in their last league outing – 1-1 draw against Wolves.
Leeds meanwhile have drawn 2-2 in each of their last two matches in all competitions but their performance at Cardiff was particularly poor, with a lethargic first-half effort but admirable spirit saw them fight back to earn a replay but improvement will be needed here.
Villa though do need to tidy up their defensive performances at home because if they continue to be sloppy and wasteful, I can see Leeds having enough quality to edge this game if those returning quickly hit the ground running.
Prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 Leeds United
Result: Aston Villa 2-1 Leeds United
Leave a Reply