It is all to play for on Tuesday night at Villa Park as Aston Villa host Leicester City in the Carabao Cup semifinal second leg.
The teams finished 1-1 in the first leg as Aston Villa’s Frederic Guilbert opened the scoring in the 28th minute. Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho tallied a strike in the 74th minute to give the Foxes a share of the spoils.
Aston Villa created few chances in the first leg registering a mere three shots to Leicester City’s 21. Dean Smith’s team had just 30% of the possession.
Leicester City played in the FA Cup fourth round at the weekend defeating Brentford 1-0 thanks to an Iheanacho goal. Striker Jamie Vardy suffered a glute injury versus West Ham in midweek giving Iheanacho a rare start. Vardy could be fit to face Aston Villa on Tuesday, however.
The Villains had the weekend off to rest and recover. Aston Villa are unbeaten in four of their last six matches in the league. They have gained some form in recent weeks and are unbeaten in their last two Premier League fixtures.
Aston Villa have injury issues and continue to face transfer blows. Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud has turned down an offer to sign for the Villains and will go to Inter Milan instead. In addition, Jack Grealish continues to be linked to the Manchester clubs.
Leicester City’s Vardy could be fit due to his glute injury not being as bad as first feared. Manager Brendan Rodgers will be without Nampalys Mendy and Daniel Amartey. The two midfielders are ruled out through injury.
Matthew James is working his way back to full fitness. James played in a Leicester City U23 game recently but a lack of match fitness should keep him from featuring.
Smith has five injured players at Aston Villa. Striker Wesley and goalkeepers Tom Heaton and Jed Steer are all three ruled out. Midfielder John McGinn is also ruled out through injury while Keinan Davis is back in training.
Since the last time these teams met, Aston Villa signed goalkeeper Pepe Reina from AC Milan. He has improved the team at the back already.
Leicester City are unbeaten in five of their last seven matches versus Aston Villa in all competitions. The Foxes have not beaten Aston Villa in their last four matches.
The two sides may have drawn 1-1 in the first leg, but their previous Premier League match this season ended 4-1 at full-time at Villa Park in favour of Leicester City. The Foxes were ahead 2-1 at the half.
Forebet predicts a win for Leicester City and a final at Wembley.