Prediction & odds for the game: Leeds (5/4) v Aston Villa (2/1) – ST is backing the home win

When: Saturday, 27th February @ 5.30pm K.O

Where: Elland Road

Leeds United and Aston Villa will meet in the Premier League this Saturday with both hoping to give their European hopes a much-needed boost.

Leeds

Leeds United are more of the most exciting teams to watch not only in England, but across the entirety of Europe and potentially even the world. That’s quite the status quo shift when you think about where they’ve been for the last decade, and the next step seems to be pushing them back up to a position of real prominence in the top half of the Premier League table. Whether or not that’ll happen this season, though, remains to be seen.

The Yorkshire side aren’t exactly known for their ability to string consecutive wins together and their form since the end of January has confirmed that. They beat Leicester, only to lose in a thriller against Everton. They proceeded to beat Crystal Palace 2-0 before suffering back-to-back defeats against Arsenal and Wolves. Then, last Monday, they torched Southampton 3-0a t Elland Road.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa aren’t the top four contenders everyone thought they could be after their strong first half of the campaign, but they’re certainly in a far healthier position than they were just a matter of months ago when they were engaged in a relegation scrap. Dean Smith has done a wonderful job in the second city but if they do want to push on and make a run at the Europa League, and maybe even beyond one day, they’ll need to rediscover the consistency that got them to the dance.

A 3-2 defeat to Burnley at the end of January brought Villa fans crashing back down to Earth, and even after their win over Southampton, they were once again forced to eat a slice of humble pie in a 3-1 loss to West Ham. They did go on to beat Arsenal but they’ve also hit setbacks with a draw against Brighton and another league defeat – this time to Leicester.

Conclusion

These two seem to have developed a pretty intense rivalry over the course of the last few years, and we think that’s going to manifest into one hell of a game on Saturday night. Leeds have their attacking flair but Villa are far more disciplined, even if we do think there’s real potential in Leeds trying to get into their heads. That intimidation factor combined with their abilities going forward aren’t to be messed with, and that’s why we believe Marcelo Bielsa’s side will claim all three points this weekend.

Our official scoreline prediction is going to be 2-1 Leeds, ensuring we hit the over 2.5 goals marker.

Verdict: Back the home win at odds of 5/4 and the over 2.5 goals scored at odds of 4/7 (All odds are taken from bet365).

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If you want to bet on Leeds vs Aston Villa then head on over to the betting page. Alternatively, you can check out some of the other available fixtures on the soccer predictions page as this season’s Premier League drama continues.