Aston Villa will be looking to rise into the top half of the Premier League standings when they play host to struggling Leeds United. The two sides are separated by four points on the league table; Villa are 11th with 26 points and Leeds 15th with 22 points. Aston Villa are a different side since Steven Gerrard’s arrival and they did some good business in the January transfer window. There’s a feeling the confidence in the team has gone up, with the acquisition of Lucas Digne, Calum Chambers and Philippe Coutinho. Ahead of this game, they claimed a 1-0 win away to Everton, having carried on the momentum from coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Manchester United. Villa have failed to score in just one game in their last five matches, and three of their last five matches have produced over 2.5 goals. They have one clean sheet in the five matches, and that is the one area they’d like to improve on.
Leeds United aren’t coming from a very strong run; they have three losses in their last five matches and haven’t managed a clean sheet in the process. In their last outing, they suffered a 1-0 loss to a struggling Newcastle United side; that was the second time in three matches that they failed to score. Three times in their last five matches, they’ve conceded two or more goals while they’ve scored three on two occasions. Three of their last five matches have produced over 2.5 goals. Leeds United have played 10 away league matches this season, and have beaten only West Ham United and Norwich. In four of their last five away matches, they have conceded a total of 14 goals.
Leeds United have been poor this season and it has been worse away from home. They have struggled defensively, and here they will be facing a confident Aston Villa side, playing at home. Villa’s two home losses in their last five matches were against Manchester City and Chelsea. They will be very confident here, having also bolstered in the January transfers, and we are backing them to win this.