At A Glance
At Villa Park on Saturday, Aston Villa and Leicester City meet for the first time this season.
Villa, whose visit to the King Power was postponed in September, are ten points above the Foxes after putting together a run of five wins in seven Premier League games since Unai Emery’s arrival.
The purple patch, which includes a 1-0 away victory against Southampton last time out, has taken the team to within three points of the top six.
Leicester have endured contrasting fortunes of late, losing four of their last five league games.
In their last outing, a 1-0 win against Walsall secured their progression to the fifth round of the FA Cup.
James Maddison and Harvey Barnes have been the leading producers for Brendan Rodgers’ team, top scoring with seven goals apiece.
Standout Stats
Both teams have scored in 12 of the 13 Premier League meetings at Villa Park. The exception was Leicester's 2-0 win in December 2001.
Villa have earned 16 points from seven league matches under Unai Emery, a tally only bettered by Arsenal's 19 since the Spaniard's first match in charge.
Emery’s team have won five of those seven games, as many victories as in their previous 24 attempts.
The Foxes have dropped 19 points from winning positions this season, six more than any other team.
All five of Leon Bailey's Premier League goals have been scored at Villa Park, with the last three coming in the opening seven minutes.
Harvey Barnes is one short of 50 career league goals. He has scored in all five of Leicester's Premier League wins this season and has four goals in four top-flight starts against Villa.
Emery's Paris Saint-Germain defeated Brendan Rodgers' Celtic 5-0 and 7-1 in the 2017-18 Champions League group stage but Rodgers won both Premier League games with Leicester against the Spaniard's Arsenal side.
Leicester have only taken one point from their five league games since the World Cup, conceding 10 goals.
Each of City’s last three league victories were in away fixtures.
Aston Villa could register three consecutive Premier League victories for the first time since February to March last year.
Brendan Rodgers has won six of his seven Premier League matches at Villa Park.
The Last Meeting
A 0-0 draw was played out when the Villans visited the King Power in April last year.
The encounter saw just five shots registered on target between the sides, with Ollie Watkins going closest to a winner for Villa.
Emi Martinez had to be on his toes to keep out James Maddison’s free-kick at the other end to preserve his clean sheet.
Team News
John McGinn will return to the Villa squad, Unai Emery confirmed on Friday.
Lucas Digne is also back in full training and pushing for inclusion. Diego Carlos, Jed Steer and Bertrand Traore are their only absentees.
Leicester will check on the fitness of Jamie Vardy ahead of the game, with their all-time top Premier League goalscorer struggling with a muscle injury.
New signing Harry Souttar has a minor hip issue, while Wilfred Ndidi is not expected to be involved. Jonny Evans, Boubakary Soumare and Ricardo Pereira will miss the game.
The Boss
“They have very good players but maybe they are in a moment where they don’t feel 100% confident. In 90 minutes they play very good matches and they can have very good performances individually. They are towards the bottom of the table and they are going to try and win against us. We are playing at home, at Villa Park, and we need points because we can get into the top ten. I respect a lot Leicester; I respect a lot the players; I respect a lot the coach.”
Unai Emery
