Michael Owen predicts Leeds United scoreline v Aston Villa
Michael Owen predicts Leeds United to suffer defeat in their Premier League clash against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Wednesday night.
Leeds play for the first time in almost two and a half weeks when they travel to the West Midlands this week and for the first time since the January transfer window slammed shut without Marcelo Bielsa signing any new players.
Aston Villa, on the other hand, had an extremely productive January with Steven Gerrard signing the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne.
Owen is a fan of Villa’s business but is surprised by Leeds’ failure to make additions and predicts them to lose 2-0 at Villa Park on Wednesday.
“Steven Gerrard has made such a good start at Villa and I love the signing of Coutinho. He scored a brilliant goal for Brazil the other day and I’m confident Steven will get the best out of him and get Coutinho enjoying his football,” wrote Owen on the BetVictor website.
“As for Leeds, I expected more transfer activity from them. They’ve had a difficult season and have had a whole host of injuries. It shows Bielsa still trusts a lot of these players, but they’ll need a good end to the season.
“I think Villa will have a strong second half of the season and that will start here.”
Tough away day
Let’s be real here, Leeds are going to have to produce something massive in order to win against Aston Villa.
Gerrard has overseen a decent run of form since taking charge at Villa Park and his signings in January will no doubt make them even tougher to beat.
Villa have done what we wanted Leeds to do in January – sign players that strengthen the squad and as a result, move the team away from the Premier League’s relegation zone.
Villa have goalscorers in Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins and now they have top-class creators in Coutinho and set-piece specialist Digne.
Leeds, on the other hand, are without Patrick Bamford for the foreseeable future and Kalvin Phillips also remains on the sidelines.
Raphinha hasn’t had a rest due to international duty with Brazil and there are many other players in this squad who’ve either been injured recently or have been off the boil in terms of their form.
If we avoid defeat at Villa Park, it’ll be a good result for Leeds.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites have suffered a “massive blow” ahead of the Aston Villa game.