Can Jamie Vardy drag Leicester out of their slump against Aston Villa?

Odds, preview and betting tips for this evening’s PremierLeague clash

Rewind a few months and Leicester City were on cloudnine, dreaming of talisman Jamie Vardy firing them to the top four – and maybeeven another unthinkable Premier League title.

But a combination of a near-unstoppable Liverpool and amiserable run of form has left Brendan Rodgers’ side desperately peering overtheir shoulder as they cling on to their Champions League hopes.

Vardy still leads the way as the league’s joint-top scorerbut he’s without a goal since December and fitness issues have stalled hisstart to 2020.

Luckily for Leicester, and Vardy, they have the idealopportunity to resurrect they season as they come up against an Aston Villaside in freefall following three consecutive defeats.

Leicester City v Aston Villa Match Odds

Despite a run of four games without a win, Leicester are the clear favourites at 1/2, while a draw is priced at 18/5.

But Villa will be confident of an upset after dumping Leicester out of the Carabao Cup last month and an away win is going at 11/2.

Vardy missed Leicester’s defeat at Norwich last time out and he’ll likely only be fit for the bench this evening, but our traders still have him priced as the game’s most likely anytime scorer at 7/10, or 5/2 to notch first.

The 33-year-old bagged twice in Leicester’s 4-1 win at VillaPark in December and he’s 16/5 to score two or more tonight.

Jack Grealish has been a revelation for Villa this season, scoringseven times in the league, and he’s 3/1 to get on the scoresheet tonight.

Cup exit to Villa. Draws with Chelsea and Wolves. Defeats toManchester City and Norwich.

It’s been an uncharacteristically ugly few weeks forLeicester and while they’re still sitting pretty in third, their safety net ison the verge of ripping. Chelsea trail them by just two points while ManchesterUnited’s recent resurgence has them five points behind.

A win would offer some much-needed breathing space butthey’ll have to do it without England international Ben Chilwell, who missesout with a hamstring issue.

Fingers and toes will be crossed throughout the city asLeicester sweat on the fitness of Vardy but should he start on the bench,Rodgers has an able deputy in Kelechi Iheanacho, who’s scored in all three ofhis outings against Villa this season.

For Dean Smith, a win would go a long way to settling thenerves of the Villa faithful.

The Midlands side are languishing in 19th place, two pointsfrom safety and with a tough run of fixtures on the horizon.

Home meetings with Chelsea, Wolves and Manchester United intertwinedwith trips to Newcastle and Liverpool await in their next five fixtures, whichwill play a starring role in deciding their fate.

They’ll have to tackle Leicester without John McGinn onceagain but Smith has confirmed the Scot is nearing a return and could be back toface Chelsea on Saturday.

Wesley remains a long-term absentee but Mbwana Samatta’s CarabaoCup final goal will breed confidence and he’ll fancy his chances against aLeicester defence with just one Premier League clean sheet since New Year’sDay.

View the latest Leicester City v Aston Villa odds.

All odds and markets are correct as of date ofpublication.