STAR PREVIEW: Aston Villa v Leicester
With the scores level at 1-1 going into this crucial second leg of the semi-final, and no away goals rule, neither side has more of an advantage than the other which makes this a fascinating clash.
Leicester will want to get to the final of this competition to make the most of what threatens to be their best season since they shocked the footballing world and won the Premier League title.
On the other hand, Aston Villa will see this as a chance to gain some momentum ahead of some tough fixtures beyond this as they look to secure a foothold in the Premier League, and the bonus of a cup final could give untold amounts of confidence to those fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table.
Aston Villa v Leicester City
Carabao Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg
19:45 Sky Sports Football / Sky Sports Main Event / Sky Sports Ultra HD
HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches, Since 2010)
JAN 2019 CARABAO CUP Leicester 1-1 Aston Villa
DEC 2019 PREMIER LEAGUE Aston Villa 1-4 Leicester
JAN 2016 PREMIER LEAGUE Aston Villa 1-1 Leicester
SEP 2015 PREMIER LEAGUE Leicester 3-2 Aston Villa
FEB 2015 FA CUP Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester
JAN 2015 PREMIER LEAGUE Leicester 1-0 Aston Villa
DEC 2014 PREMIER LEAGUE Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester
With both sides eager to meet either Manchester City or United in the final at Wembley, expect this to be a game with lots of attacking intent. Leicester have dominated their two recent previous meetings, but they couldn’t make that count in the first leg of this tie when they went behind when Frederic Guilbert snuck in at the far post to meet Anwar El Ghazi’s cross, and they then preceded to dominate the rest of the game, winning the shot count 21-3 and the corner count 11-0, but only having Kelechi Iheanacho’s equaliser to show for it.
Villa did start well before they took the lead but were under the cosh for the large majority of the game, and if not for especially inspired performances from Jack Grealish & Tryone Mings, this tie could well have been decided already.
Of course the tie is still up for grabs and Villa now have the the benefit of home advantage as well but Leicester should have no fears of coming up to Villa Park. Playing on the break sometimes suits the favourites more than trying to break a side down and perhaps not being at home will offer them some more freedom. Villa should have taken plenty of heart from their 2-1 win against Watford but Leicester will have done just the same from back to back wins against West Ham (Pemier League) and Brentford (FA Cup) and can find a way even if this tie is looser than the first leg.
RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)
BACK Leicester City and Both Teams To Score 2 pts at 2/1 with
PROFIT/LOSS SINCE JAN 1 2017: PROFIT 253.54 points