Aston Villa will look to get 2025 off to the perfect start by picking up three points at home against struggling Leicester City.
Aston Villa vs Leicester best bets
- Aston Villa -1 on European handicap – 49/50 with SBK
- Ollie Watkins to score or assist – 97/100 with Casumo
- Youri Tielemans over 1.5 shots – 6/5 with BetMGM
Aston Villa vs Leicester City odds
Find the latest match odds for Aston Villa vs Leicester City. All odds are provided by our best football betting sites. Odds are subject to change.
Aston Villa vs Leicester predictions
Aston Villa and Leicester City meet at Villa Park in a Premier League Matchweek 20 showdown. Both teams will be looking for some New Year cheer when they meet in this Midlands derby.
Starting with a look at Aston Villa, Unai Emery’s team are down to ninth in the Premier League. They sit on 29 points from 19 matches. Furthermore, Villa has a negative goal difference of -3. The Claret and Blue has scored 28 and conceded 31.
In their last five in the Premier League, Villa has won two, lost two and drawn one.
Highlighting their defensive frailties, they have conceded in their last five in all competitions, and in 11 of their last 12 in the Premier League. Only bottom of the table Southampton has failed to breach the Villa back line in that run.
Villa is now starting to lose ground with the top four in the Premier League. They start the match week six points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, who are themselves three matches without a win.
But in Unai Emery’s defence, his team has been fighting on two fronts. And in the Champions League, things are going very well for Villa.
The 1982 European Cup winners are fifth in the Champions League group on 13 points. They know two wins from their final two matches will guarantee them a place in the Round of 16.
And it’s this good form in Europe’s elite competition that has earnt Emery and his team plenty of grace from the Villa faithful, who fully understand how difficult it is to compete on two fronts at the very top level.
At home, Villa has been strong this season. They have won four, drawn four, and lost only once. The defeat was to Arsenal on Matchweek 2.
Results have been poor on the road. Villa has lost five on their travels. Included was their 3-0 Boxing Day defeat away to Newcastle.
That latest setback was followed by a 2-2 draw at home to Brighton on Monday. A match Villa will feel they should have won, given they were 2-1 up with ten minutes remaining.
Villa have a great opportunity to put that disappointment behind them when they face a Leicester team that looks to be in free fall.
After a reasonable start to the season, Leicester City have dropped into the bottom three in recent weeks.
The Foxes are 19th with 14 points from 19 matches. Possibly more worrying is they have now conceded 42 goals. That’s three more than bottom of the table Southampton and is the joint-worst record along with Wolves.
Furthermore, Leicester have lost their last four in the Premier League to an aggregate score of 12-1 under new manager Ruud van Nistelrooy
Van Nistelrooy took over from previous boss Steve Cooper, who was sacked following their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea.
Although appointed on November 29th, the Dutchman didn’t take charge of the team in their 4-1 defeat to Brentford the following day. His first match in the dugout was the Foxes’ 3-1 win over West Ham.
Van Nistelrooy followed that win up with a 2-2 home draw against Brighton. And all of a sudden, after four points from his opening two matches in charge, there was optimism at the King Power Stadium.
But the honeymoon period was short lived. Four successive defeats have followed.
And with 19 goals conceded in the seven matches since Steve Cooper departed, there are now questions being asked about the club’s wisdom to dispense with his services as swiftly as they did.
Aston Villa vs Leicester betting tips
Leicester have conceded 15 goals in six matches under Ruud van Nistelrooy at an average of 2.5 goals per match. They conceded four in one match with no manager
They conceded 23 in 12 matches under Steve Cooper at a rate of 1.91 goals per match.
The tactical tweaks van Nistelrooy has made have only had a negative impact. The Foxes are simply conceding far too many goals. They are heading towards relegation.
Aston Villa has only lost once at home this season. They are on a winless run of two. We say they end that run by beating Leicester. Read more of our Aston Villa vs Leicester betting tips below:
Aston Villa (-1) to win on European handicap
It’s hard to imagine Aston Villa not beating Leicester. The Claret and Blue is due a win and Leicester are on a poor run of results.
Free Bet Offers
A win for Villa in the 90 minute market is just 1/3. Villa has scored two goals or more in four of their last five home matches. We would expect them to score at least two against a Leicester team that has conceded 12 in their last four.
That should be enough to see Villa win with a bit to spare.
Back Aston Villa from -1 on European handicap at 49/50 with SBK
Ollie Watkins to score or assist
Ollie Watkins has found himself on the bench in recent weeks.
But with Jhon Duran suspended, Watkins returned to the starting lineup for the 2-2 draw with Brighton and weighed in with a goal and an assist.
Duran is still suspended for the match against Leicester, meaning Watkins is set to start again. A bet on Watkins to play some part in a goal against Leicester at almost even money can’t be passed up on.
Back Ollie Watkins to score or assist at 97/100 with Casumo
Youri Tielemans over 1.5 shots
The chances are that Villa will be laying siege to Leicester City’s goal, with plenty of possession, and plenty of efforts on goal.
The Foxes are Tielemans former team, and the Belgian international is yet to find the back of the net this season.
Tielemans is 9/2 to score anytime. It would be just Leicester’s luck for him to do so. But given his lack of goals this season, we are instead backing him to have two or more shots.
He managed it against Brighton on Monday. And with the prospect of his first goal of the season coming against his former employers, he looks a good value wager to repeat this against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s struggling team.
Back Youri Tielemans to have over 1.5 shots at 6/5 with BetMGM
How to watch Aston Villa vs Leicester
- Location: Villa Park, Birmingham, England.
- Date and time: Saturday 4th January, 3pm GMT.
- How to watch: Not available in the UK, highlights to follow later in the day.
Read more about the 2024/25 football season
- Premier League winner predictions
- Premier League top scorer odds
- Premier League relegation odds
- Champions League winner odds
- Championship promotion odds
About the author
Dean Etheridge
Dean Etheridge is an experienced freelance sports betting writer who specialises in football. He predominantly covers the Premier League and Champions League but can turn his hand to all aspects of the beautiful game. You can follow Dean on LinkedIn (@deanetheridge)
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