The first finalist of this season's League Cup will be revealed on Tuesday, when Aston Villa host Leicester at Villa Park in Birmingham for the second half of their semi-final tie. The first leg ended 1-1, Frederic Guilbert opened the scoring for Aston Villa and then Kelechi Iheanacho scored the equalizer for the Foxes in the second half. Leicester have won three of their last six direct matches in all competitions, while Aston Villa have won just one.
Aston Villa are dreaming of playing the League Cup final this season and, given their recent form, that dream is not that unrealistic. They have lost just one of their last four matches in all competitions, a 6-1 defeat at home against defending Premier League champions Manchester City. Last week Aston Villa secured a 2-1 Premier League at home against Watford, moving away from the relegation zone for now. Jed Steer, Tom Heaton, Wesley and John McGinn are out injured, but new signing Ally Samatta is ready to play and will most likely lead the attack for the home side.
Leicester had a bit of a bumpy patch a couple of weeks ago, when they lost two consecutive Premier League matches after the first leg of the League Cup semi-final. Since then they recovered with a 4-1 victory over West Ham in the Premier League and a 1-0 win at Brentford in the FA Cup last week, so confidence is restored ahead of the second leg against Aston Villa. Nampalys Mendy and Daniel Amartey are sidelined for the visitors, Matty James is lacking match fitness, while star striker Jamie Vardy is an injury doubt.
Probable line-ups:
Aston Villa: Reina - Konsa, Mings, Hause - Guilbert, Luiz, Nakamba, Targett - Grealish, El Ghazi - Samatta
Leicester: Schmeichel - Pereira, Evans, Soyuncu, Chilwell - Perez, Tielemans, Ndidi, Maddison, Barnes - Vardy
My prediction:
This should be a very intense match, Aston Villa are playing at home and will have a bit of a boost but Leicester are the better side and I think they will win the match 2-1.
Here are the odds for the match at NetBet:
Aston Villa win - 4.15
Draw - 4.10
Leicester win - 1.69
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