England Premier League
Thursday 10th March 2022
Kick off at 7:45pm GMT
Venue: Elland Road
Match Preview:
Jesse Marsch has a big job on his hands and in his first game in charge of Leeds after Marcelo Bielsa’s sacking his team lost 1-0 away to Leicester. In fairness playing the Foxes away is not the easiest of games and Leeds played well and created many chances. The unknown question right now is how is Marsch’s relationship with the squad? Or are the team upset that Bielsa has gone? Marsch is bound to get a great and encouraging ovation in this game as it is his first in charge at home so from that point of view there will be pressure on Leeds to deliver in this midweek game.
Leeds have just one win so far this year and there is a real chance that they could be heading back down but they will take stock of the situation at Burnley and Everton first, the two clubs below them. Leeds are in 16th place with 23 points and just a point above Everton but have played two games more. By the end of this game that will be three of course and they would also have played two games more than Burnley, this is why this is a must win game and even a draw would not be good enough.
Form wise Leeds have the worst record in the league with no wins from their last five and they have conceded 11 goals in their last 3 games. At home it is just three wins so far and their last home game finished in a 4-0 defeat against Tottenham. But this is all in the past and with a new manager we will have to wait and see if anything has changed.
Aston Villa have had a poor start to the year but are finding form again and have won their last two games. First they beat Brighton 2-0 and then followed that up with a thumping 4-0 home victory against Southampton. If anyone had doubts that Villa could struggle in the last few months and be involved in a relegation fight that has been quashed in the last week and the club come into this game in 11th position.
Team News:
Leeds: Tyler Roberts is out for the season with a hamstring injury, he is the latest concern for the club however apart from Roberts there are no new injuries for the club. Still a whole host of players are still out long term and that includes Kalvin Phillips, Liam Cooper and Leo Fuhr Hjelde.
Aston Villa: There are no new injuries for Villa although Marvelous Nakamba is still out with his knee and is not expected to return for another 3 weeks at least.
Leeds vs Aston Villa Head to Head:
Last season this fixture ended 1-0 to Aston Villa.
Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture the game finished 3-3.
From the last four games played at Leeds the home side have only won once against Aston Villa.
Recently this fixture has followed a pattern of under and over 2.5 goals if this continues for the 7th straight game this would end in under 2.5 goals.
Leeds vs Aston Villa Prediction:
It was only a month ago that Leeds came back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 against their opponents and that was away from home so the players will take something from that. The big benefit for Leeds is that Patrick Bamford is back. He was on the substitues bench last time out and one will feel that every supporter will want to wrap him up in cotton wool given that he last returned from a lengthy lay off only to be ruled out for 3 months after injuring himself celebrating a goal. Hopefully Bamford will be fit enough to get a run out and he will relishing this in front of his home fans and should cause Villa some problems.
But this is a game that could well be played out in the middle of the field with not many clear cut chances. We know that Marsch’s objective is to shore up a poor Leeds defence who have conceded over 60 goals already this season. At the same time Leeds need to take their chances too. There is really nothing between the teams as they go into this clash.
Leeds vs Aston Villa Betting Tips:
Result: Draw at 3.25
Under 2.5 goals at 2.10
Anytime goalscorer: Patrick Bamford at 2.50
Correct Score: 1-1 at 6.50
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