At A Glance
Aston Villa resume their Premier League campaign against Leicester City on Sunday, looking to pick up where they left off before the international break.
Three straight wins has taken Dean Smith’s side to the top end of the table, with 11 goals scored and two conceded in that time.
A 7-2 win against Liverpool last time out sent shockwaves through the competition and maintained Villa’s 100% start to the campaign.
Leicester are level on points with Villa and head into the weekend one place below them – despite having played a game more.
Brendan Rodgers’ team were clinical in their first three league games, netting 12 times during wins against West Brom, Manchester City and Burnley.
However, a 3-0 home defeat in their last outing against West Ham handed them a first loss of the season.
Standout Stats
Aston Villa are looking to win their first four games in a league campaign for the first time since 1930-31, when they scored a record 128 goals within a single top-flight season, but finished second to Arsenal.
Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League games (W5 D2), winning the last three in a row. They last had a longer unbeaten run in the competition back in October 2011 (10 games), while they last won more consecutively in December 2009 (4).
Aston Villa have scored 10 goals in their last two Premier League games, beating Fulham 3-0 before their 7-2 victory against Liverpool last time out. Their previous 10 goals in the competition came across a spell of 14 games.
The Last Meeting
Villa’s previous encounter with Leicester was one to forget for Dean Smith and his team as they were handed a 4-0 loss at the King Power back in March.
Harvey Barnes opened the scoring as the hosts led 1-0 at half-time.
Substitute Jamie Vardy netted twice before Barnes rounded off the rout in the 85th minute.
Team News
Bjorn Engels has been training throughout the international break and could be in contention to feature in the squad after fellow defender Kortney Hause picked up an injury against Stoke City earlier this month.
Wesley remains sidelined while Tom Heaton had previously earmarked a return for after the October international break.
Opponents Leicester City have a few injury concerns. Daniel Amartey, Wilfred Ndidi and right-back Ricardo Pereira are sidelined for the game.
There remain doubts over the availability of midfielders Dennis Praet and James Maddison, as well as Croatian centre-back Filip Benkovic.
The Boss
"We have to be very respectful of a team that’s gone to Manchester City and won 5-2. We won 7-2 against Liverpool, so there’s two teams there that are very good. We’ve been stung there a couple of times last season and we have to make sure we continue our level of performance on Sunday. We have to be at our best. The last time we played there we got beat 4-0 just before lockdown. We’ve started the season well, there’s confidence within the group and a belief that we’re better this season. It’s a tough game but one we’re looking forward to."
Dean Smith
