Two teams looking to bounce back from Premier League defeats last weekend do battle at the King Power Stadium on Saturday as Leicester City play host to Aston Villa.
The Foxes and the Lions meet for the first time since April 2023 when the latter secured a 2-1 away victory over the former.
Match preview
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After salvaging a point at home against Tottenham Hotspur on their return to the top flight, Leicester came away from Craven Cottage empty handed last weekend as they were beaten 2-1 by Fulham.
Wout Faes rose highest to head Leicester level and cancel out Emile Smith Rowe's opener, but Alex Iwobi restored Fulham's advantage after the interval and the Foxes' efforts to gain parity for a second time were ultimately in vain.
Leicester have since secured a safe passage into the third round of the EFL Cup after cruising to a 4-0 home victory over League Two side Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday, with goals from debutant Jordan Ayew, Stephy Mavididi, Wilfred Ndidi and Harry Winks sealing a first win of Steve Cooper's reign.
The 44-year-old was impressed with his side's "real dominance from start to finish", albeit against a fourth-tier club, and hopes that his youthful squad mixed with some senior stars can continue to gel as they attempt to put together a positive run of form in the Premier League.
Cooper will be bidding to avoid becoming the first Leicester manager to not win any of his first three league games in charge since Paulo Sousa back in August 2010, but that could prove challenging as the Foxes have won just one of their last five home meetings with Aston Villa.
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Aston Villa were unable to follow up their opening-weekend win at West Ham United with another three points against Arsenal - a team they beat both home and away last season - as they suffered a 2-0 defeat at Villa Park last Saturday.
It was an afternoon to forget for Ollie Watkins, who dragged a golden first-half chance wide before watching a diving header kept out by David Raya's miraculous second-half save with the scoreline goalless. Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey eventually made the net ripple for the Gunners, condemning Villa to their first loss of the new season.
Unai Emery 'accepted' the result as he believes that "there is still work to do" in order for his players to "learn and improve more" in the coming weeks. With domestic duties soon to be balanced with Champions League football, Emery has stated that his Villa side will be aiming to finish at least in the "top ten or the top six" of the Premier League this season.
The Spaniard will be keen to see improvements made in defence, as Villa have now gone seven consecutive Premier League matches without a clean sheet, conceding 15 goals. However, the Lions face a Leicester side on Saturday who have netted in 13 of their last 15 meetings.
Villa have in fact won only seven of their last 28 Premier League encounters with Leicester, although they have picked up seven points from their last three visits (W2 D1) to the King Power Stadium having previously won just one of their first 11 such visits (W1 D4 L6).
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Team News
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Leicester duo Patson Daka and Jakub Stolarczyk remain sidelined with long-term ankle injuries, but the Foxes were boosted by the return to fitness of Luke Thomas and Conor Coady in midweek; the former played the full 90 minutes while the latter came on as a second-half substitute.
Neither player is expected to start on Saturday, though, as Cooper is set to revert to the same back four - James Justin, Faes, Jannik Vestergaard and Victor Kristiansen - that started against Fulham.
New signings Oliver Skipp and Facundo Buonanotte will be hoping to start in midfield along with Winks and Ndidi, while Jamie Vardy is expected to return up front and could be supported in attack by Abdul Fatawu and Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
As for Aston Villa, Matty Cash is set to be sidelined for a month with a hamstring injury sustained against Arsenal, so either Kosta Nedeljkovic or Ezri Konsa is expected to start at right-back.
Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings are still on the road to recovery from serious knee injuries, while backup goalkeeper Robin Olsen has missed the opening two games with a facial injury picked up in pre-season, but could be fit to make the bench this weekend.
Morgan Rogers impressed against Arsenal and is set to continue in an advanced attacking role in behind Watkins, while Leon Bailey, Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans and John McGinn could all retain their places in midfield.
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Hermansen; Justin, Faes, Vestergaard, Kristiansen; Winks, Ndidi; Fatawu, Buonanotte, Decordova-Reid; Vardy
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Nedeljkovic, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Bailey, Tielemans, Onana, McGinn; Rogers; Watkins
We say: Leicester City 1-3 Aston Villa
Goals are to be expected on Saturday as both sides have looked vulnerable at the back in the early weeks of the new season. In addition, nine of the last 13 meetings between these two teams have seen three or more goals scored.
Leicester have a solid top-flight record against Aston Villa, but if the visitors can learn from last week's defeat to Arsenal and manage to take their chances in the final third, they should find a way to come out on top in the East Midlands.
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Oliver Thomas
