Leicester vs. Aston Villa: More Away Day Joy?

This is the sort of fixture that can say a lot or not much. Bottom line, it's about whether looking up and digging in to keep pace or move higher mean more to Villa than do perilous straits to Leicester.

It’s a thick month of fixtures, and Villa are back on the road to take on the reeling Foxes. With Brendan Rodgers having been sacked, Villa’s strong away form will have to contend with not only relegation desperation but also the reaction to Rodgers’ dismissal.

This is the sort of fixture that can say a lot or not much. Bottom line, it’s about whether looking up and digging in to keep pace or move higher mean more to Villa than do perilous straits to Leicester. The things on top of that, tactics, fitness, the bounce of the ball…they do play their parts. But Villa simply need to be hard at it. They’ll have a game plan and adjustments to help. The side are proving they can get results by hook or crook.

Naturally, we think back to teams of the recent past and wonder whether Villa will follow a big win with a damp squib. I’m not getting the sense that’s a mentality Unai accepts, but it can take time to acclimate to winning, what it takes to get ingrained. It seems like it’s starting to happen, and victory today would go a long way to finally building on a great result.

One change, Bailey comes back in and Bouba doesn’t make the squad. So it seems like he did re-aggravate the ankle.

Anyway, that’s it from me.

Over to you.