The latest Premier League weekend begins on Friday night when Aston Villa take on Leeds United in what should be an entertaining start to a busy round of action, although whether it ends up being worth £14.95 remains to be seen.
Aston Villa have made a perfect start to the season and will move to the top of the table if they can find a fifth straight victory here. Leeds United have tailed off a bit since their thrill-a-minute beginning but can go third for a few hours if they win.
Where to watch
The match is being shown live on BT Sport Box Office and will cost you the ridiculous price of £14.95 if you want to watch it. The programme begins at 7.55pm with the match itself kicking off at 8pm.
Aston Villa
When the season started if you had said that Aston Villa would win their first four matches when they had Liverpool and Leicester City to play in that time most people would have thought you were barking mad but that is exactly what has happened. The best compliment you can pay to them is that they have deserved to win all four matches too. Such has been the strength of their start, they are no bigger than 66/1 to be crowned champions this term.
That is pie in the sky stuff but it shows that they are playing well. Dean Smith made a number of clever signings in the summer window and three of them – Emiliano Martinez, Ross Barkley and Ollie Watkins have all already impressed. Only Liverpool have scored against Aston Villa this season while Villa are looking one of the more dangerous sides in the league in attack. A win here will really make people stand up and take notice.
Leeds United
Leeds blew into the Premier League like a whirlwind with goals everywhere you looked and while things have inevitably quietened down in recent times, their matches remain entertaining to watch. They go into this match off the back of a defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night so they will be looking to bounce back from that here and if they can find a win and make it three victories from six this term they’ll be in decent shape.
The concern for Leeds at present is their defence. They are missing players in the back line and in front of it and have leaked nine goals in their five matches. They are going to need to tighten up a bit if they want to achieve big things this season but the flip side of that is that they have shown they can score goals. Not only can they score goals but they have them all over the pitch as well which makes them hard to defend against.
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Team News
There was a doubt over Ross Barkley ahead of this match but it appears he has been passed fit to start so Dean Smith could name the same starting XI that he did at the King Power Stadium last Sunday.
Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa will definitely be without the injured Kalvin Phillips for this match but he could also be without captain Liam Cooper too. He pulled out in the warm up on Monday evening and remains a doubt four days later.
Betting
I don’t think this is necessarily an easy match to bet on. One of the reasons for that is the match prices are about right. You could argue that Aston Villa are a little short but you wouldn’t want to take them on in their current form and at the same time Leeds might be a shade on the larger side odds wise but you wouldn’t be convinced they will come away from Villa Park with a result either. In the end I’ve decided to take a small anytime scorer bet.
Ross Barkley has goals in both his Aston Villa starts to date so he looks a little big at 7/2 to find the back of the net in this match. That would have been the case anyway but when you factor in the Leeds defensive shield is out injured for this match there might be more space than usual for the Chelsea loanee to work his magic in. Barkley is always in and around the penalty box and can pop up from long distance as well and he feels a bit too big at 7/2 to find the net here.
Tips
Back R.Barkley to score anytime for a 1/10 stake at 4.50 with Betfair
Back him here:
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