Foxes of Leicester
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Aston Villa v Leicester: Foxes want revenge in the Midlands derby

By Elliot Mackness

Brendan Rogers, Manager of Leicester City interacts with Jack Grealish of Aston Villa (Photo by Rui Vieira - Pool/Getty Images)
Brendan Rogers, Manager of Leicester City interacts with Jack Grealish of Aston Villa (Photo by Rui Vieira - Pool/Getty Images) /
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Slavia Prague’s Czech midfielder Lukas Masopust and Leicester’s Turkish defender Caglar Soyuncu (R) (Photo by MICHAL CIZEK/AFP via Getty Images) /

Stalwart defending

Aston Villa are a great team. They made just the signings they needed to in the summer and have integrated different players into a good defensive line. Matty Cash, Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa, and Matt Targett have been immensely impressive. I would not mind Cash at the King Power!

Villa have twelve clean sheets, only conceding an xGA (expected goals against) of 28.39, actually conceding 24. An initial glance tells us they are either getting something right defensively, or are getting quite lucky.

Basically, this means they are preventing a plethora of great chances – most chances against them are low probability chances – and managing to block or prevent goals. This has a lot to do with Emiliano Martinez – their goalkeeper.

However, if we only take home matches into account, they actually concede a goal more than expected! Leicester City on the other hand have nine clean sheets, with an xGA of 28.37, actually conceding 26. This great defending remains in the away statistics. The Foxes have the third best away defensive record in terms of xGA, second for goals against.

This has everything to do with our defensive line and our goalkeeper. Let’s name and praise: Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu, Wesley Fofana, Daniel Amartey (yes he has been great), James Justin, Luke Thomas, Timothy Castagne, Ricardo Pereira, and Kasper Schmeichel.

The Great Dane has made every save he is expected to make and many stunning saves. Our central defenders are balanced, composed, and energetic when necessary, and with the return of both Ricky P and Castagne for the Villa match, I am looking forward to it.

Let us also not forget the contribution of our midfielders and wingers. Ndidi, Hamza Choudhury, Nampalys Mendy, Youri Tielemans, and Marc Albrighton have been critical to prevented turnovers when Leicester City lose possession, and have even regained possession for the Foxes when necessary.