Aston Villa host Midlands rivals, Leicester City in a massive Premier League fixture.
Victory would see Villa climb as high as sixth depending on results elsewhere, whilst Leicester can move out of the relegation zone with a win.
Team News
Matty Cash is available for Villa after he was suspended for their 2-2 draw against Brighton.
Morgan Rogers is suspended following his fifth booking of the season, whilst Pau Torres (metatarsal) is ruled out until March.
Diego Carlos (foot) and Jaden Philogene (unspecified) will also be absent.
Jhon Duran (suspension) remains sidelined.
Leicester will welcome Jordan Ayew back into contention after he was suspended for their 2-0 loss to Manchester City.
Wout Faes (unspecified) faces a late fitness check.
Mads Hermansen (groin), Kasey McAteer (knock), Wilfried Ndidi (hamstring), Abdul Fatawu (ACL) and Ricardo Pereira (muscle) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Villa host Leicester at Villa Park on Saturday 4 January at 3pm GMT, untelevised in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Villa have lost one of their last five meetings against Leicester (W3, D1, L1).
- Leicester have avoided defeat in four of their last five league visits to Villa (W3, D1, L1).
- Ollie Watkins has scored in two of his last three Villa appearances against Leicester.
- Morgan Rogers has scored in three of Villa’s last four league games at home but is suspended for this game.
- Coming into this matchweek, Leicester have jointly conceded the most goals alongside Wolves (42).
Prediction
Having battled back to lead Brighton, Villa will be slightly disappointed to have drawn in what was a competitive contest but this should be easier if cut out the defensive mistakes but still be clinical.
Leicester realistically were never going to get any points against Man City but deserve credit for how they took the fight to City, even if their end product was unlucky but more of the same will be needed here.
I however do feel that Villa will have too much for the Foxes here given the visitors’ recent goalscoring issues.
Prediction: Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester
Result: Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester