Leicester City will be looking for their eighth straight win in the Premier League when they travel to Villa Park to face Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.
A stunning run of form has seen the Foxes rise into second position in the table, while Villa occupy 16th spot having collected 15 points from their 16 league outings during the 2019-20 campaign.
Match preview
© Reuters
Four wins, three draws and eight defeats - that is how Villa have performed during their first 15 matches of the 2019-20 Premier League season. A total of 15 points have left them in 16th spot in the table, just one point clear of the relegation zone heading into this weekend's fixtures.
Only the bottom three teams - Everton, Norwich City and Watford - have lost more times in the Premier League than Villa this season, but Dean Smith's side have won the same number of matches as Arsenal.
The promoted club picked up an impressive 2-2 draw against Manchester United last weekend but could not build on that result during the week as they suffered a 2-1 loss at Chelsea.
The performance at Stamford Bridge was strong, though, and Villa are now heading into a run of matches which will see them play four times at home in their next five, including a clash with Liverpool in the EFL Cup, where the Reds will name a shadow side to their involvement in the Club World Cup.
Villa have not actually beaten Leicester in the Premier League since December 2014, although the two teams shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw when they last locked horns at Villa Park in January 2016.
© Reuters
Leicester continued their stunning run of form with a 2-0 win over Watford on Wednesday night. The Foxes have now been victorious in their last eight matches in all competitions, seven of which have been in the league.
Eleven wins and two draws from 15 matches have brought them 35 points, leaving them three points clear of third-placed Manchester City and six ahead of Chelsea in fourth.
Leicester announced on Friday that head coach Brendan Rodgers had signed a new contract at the King Power Stadium until the summer of 2025 amid reports of interest from Arsenal.
Rodgers's side are 12 points clear of fifth-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers, showing that they are in a wonderful position to secure a top-four finish come the end of the 2019-20 campaign. The gap to leaders Liverpool is eight points, though, and it is difficult to envisage a title challenge at this point.
Jamie Vardy was stunning during Leicester's 2015-16 Premier League triumph, and the 32-year-old is enjoying another remarkable campaign. He has scored in each of his last seven league outings, with his record standing at 14 in 15 league matches during the current season.
Leicester's success has also been built on a strong defensive unit, though, with the Foxes conceding just nine times in their 15 matches, which is comfortably the best record in the division.
Aston Villa form: LLLWDL
Leicester form: WWWWWW
Team News
© Reuters
Villa were without the services of Frederic Guilbert for Wednesday's clash with Chelsea due to a one-game suspension, but the Frenchman will be available this weekend.
Jed Steer and Keinan Davis remain on the treatment table, but Anwar El Ghazi is expected to overcome a knee injury to feature against Rodgers's side.
Douglas Luiz and Bjorn Engels are also pushing for spots in the side, meaning that Trezeguet might start on the bench despite scoring Villa's goal against the Blues last time out.
As for Leicester, Ben Chilwell missed out against Watford during the week due to a hip complaint, but the defender is pushing to feature for the league's second-placed team this weekend.
Demarai Gray is also in contention after recovering from illness, but Matty James is still on the sidelines.
Vardy will again lead the line with support from Harvey Barnes, Ayoze Perez and James Maddison, with the likes of Dennis Praet and Kelechi Iheanacho providing options from the bench.
Aston Villa possible starting lineup: Heaton; Guilbert, Engels, Mings, Targett; McGinn, Luiz, Hourihane; El Ghazi, Wesley, Grealish
Leicester City possible starting lineup: Schmeichel; Ricardo, Evans, Soyuncu, Chilwell; Ndidi; Barnes, Maddison, Tielemans, Perez; Vardy
We say: Aston Villa 1-1 Leicester City
This is a tough game for Leicester when taking everything into consideration. The Foxes are certainly capable of picking up all three points, but we fancy Villa to secure a share of the spoils.
Matt Law
