Aston Villa will look to start 2025 on the right foot by picking up three points at home to struggling Leicester City.
Aston Villa vs Leicester best bets
- Aston Villa -1 on European handicap – 49/50 with SBK
- Ollie Watkins to score or assist – 97/100 with Casumo
- Youri Tielemans on 1.5 shots – 6/5 with BetMGM
Aston Villa vs Leicester City odds
Find the latest match odds for Aston Villa vs Leicester City. All odds are provided by our best football betting sites. Odds are subject to change.
Aston Villa vs Leicester pronostics
Aston Villa and Leicester City meet at Villa Park in a Premier League Week 20 showdown. Both teams will be looking for some New Year cheer when they meet in this Midlands derby.
Starting with Aston Villa, Unai Emery’s side are ranked ninth in the Premier League. They have 29 points in 19 matches. Additionally, Villa has a negative goal difference of -3. The Claret and Blue scored 28 and conceded 31.
In their last five Premier League games, Villa have won two, lost two and drawn one.
Highlighting their defensive weaknesses, they have conceded in their last five games in all competitions, and in 11 of their last 12 in the Premier League. Only bottom of the table Southampton failed to break down Villa’s backline during this run.
Villa are now starting to lose ground in the Premier League’s top four. They begin the match week six points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, who are themselves three matches without a win.
But in Unai Emery’s defense, his team is fighting on two fronts. And in the Champions League, things are going very well for Villa.
The 1982 European Cup winners are fifth in the Champions League group with 13 points. They know that two wins in their last two matches will guarantee them a place in the round of 16.
And it’s this good form in Europe’s elite competition that has earned Emery and his team plenty of favor from the Villa faithful, who fully understand how difficult it is to compete on two fronts at most high level.
At home, Villa have been strong this season. They won four, drew four and lost just once. The defeat was against Arsenal in the second week.
Results were poor on the road. Villa lost five during their journey. Included was their 3-0 Boxing Day defeat at Newcastle.
This latest setback was followed by a 2-2 draw at home to Brighton on Monday. A game Villa will feel like they should have won, given they were leading 2-1 with ten minutes remaining.
Villa have a great opportunity to put this disappointment behind them when they face a Leicester side who appear to be in free fall.
After a reasonable start to the season, Leicester City have fallen out of the top three in recent weeks.
The Foxes are 19th with 14 points from 19 matches. What is perhaps more worrying is that they have now conceded 42 goals. That’s three more than bottom-of-the-table Southampton and the worst record with Wolves.
Additionally, Leicester have lost their last four Premier League matches by an aggregate score of 12-1 under new manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Van Nistelrooy took over from former boss Steve Cooper, who was sacked after their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea.
Although appointed on 29 November, the Dutchman did not take charge of the team in the 4-1 defeat to Brentford the following day. His first game in the dugout was the Foxes’ 3-1 win over West Ham.
Van Nistelrooy followed this victory with a 2-2 home draw against Brighton. And suddenly, after four points from his first two matches in charge, optimism reigned at the King Power Stadium.
But the honeymoon period was short-lived. Four successive defeats followed.
And with 19 goals conceded in seven matches since Steve Cooper’s departure, questions are now being asked about the wisdom of the club in disposing of his services as quickly as they did.
Aston Villa vs Leicester pronostics
Leicester have conceded 15 goals in six matches under Ruud van Nistelrooy, averaging 2.5 goals per game. They conceded four in a single match without a manager
They have conceded 23 in 12 matches under Steve Cooper, at a rate of 1.91 goals per game.
The tactical adjustments made by van Nistelrooy only had a negative impact. The Foxes are simply conceding far too many goals. They are heading towards relegation.
Aston Villa have only lost once at home this season. They are on a two-game winless streak. We say they end this series by beating Leicester. Read more of our Aston Villa vs Leicester betting tips below:
Aston Villa (-1) winner of the European handicap
It’s hard to imagine Aston Villa not beating Leicester. The Claret and Blue should get a win and Leicester are on a poor run of results.
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A Villa win in the 90 minute market is only 1/3. Villa have scored two or more goals in four of their last five home matches. We expect them to score at least two against a Leicester side who have conceded 12 in their last four games.
This should be enough to see Villa win with a slight lead.
⚽ Return of Aston Villa from -1 on European handicap to 49/50 with SBK ⚽
Ollie Watkins to score or assist
Ollie Watkins has found himself on the bench in recent weeks.
But with Jhon Duran suspended, Watkins returned to the starting lineup for the 2-2 draw against Brighton and scored a goal and an assist.
Duran is still suspended for the Leicester game, meaning Watkins is set to start again. A bet on Watkins to play a part in a goal against Leicester at almost even money cannot be passed up.
⚽ Back Ollie Watkins to score or assist at 97/100 with Casumo ⚽
Youri Tielemans on 1.5 shots
There is a good chance that Villa will lay siege to Leicester City’s goal, with plenty of possession and plenty of effort on goal.
The Foxes are Tielemans’ former team, and the Belgium international is yet to find the net this season.
Tielemans is 9/2 to score at any time. It would just be a chance for Leicester to do so. But given his lack of goals this season, we’re pretty much backing him to take two or more shots.
He succeeded against Brighton on Monday. And with the prospect of scoring his first goal of the season against his former employers, it looks like a good bet to repeat that against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s struggling side.
⚽ Support Youri Tielemans to get over 1.5 shots at 6/5 with BetMGM ⚽
???? How to watch Aston Villa vs Leicester
- Emplacement: Villa Park, Birmingham, England.
- Date and time: Saturday January 4, 3 p.m. GMT.
- How to watch: Not available in the UK, highlights will follow later today.
Find out more about the 2024/25 football season
About the author
Doyen Etheridge
Dean Etheridge is an experienced freelance sports betting writer, specializing in football. He mainly covers the Premier League and Champions League, but can focus on all aspects of the beautiful game. You can follow Dean on LinkedIn (@deanetheridge)
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