MY ACCOUNT
Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa ended their four-game losing streak with a goalless draw against Leicester at the King Power Stadium.
The hosts dominated the ball but struggled to craft any meaningful chances, while the visitors were guilty of some wasteful finishing.
Leon Bailey, Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Buendia were all afforded presentable chances, but could not convert.
The stalemate also means that Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes drop to 10th after being leapfrogged by Newcastle, although the Magpies have played two games more.
Gerrard was not overly disheartened by the stalemate and felt his team deserved no less than a point.
He said: “We came here to win the game and on chances, we could have done that.
“It is a tough game here; they are well-coached and a clean sheet was the least we deserved. We’ll take a positive point away and that is a good base for the next two games.
“I thought Ollie Watkins was fantastic second half; he did lots of running and gave the Leicester defence a tough time. All that was missing today was a goal, but the chances keep coming so a goal will come. We had some good play and overall, probably shaded the chances.”
Rodgers was similarly calm in his assessment, praising the effort of his men while suggesting fatigue may have played a part in their inability to find a winner.
He said: “I thought we started the game really well and worked the ball into good positions. In the last couple of games, we played really well, but in the final third we couldn’t find the killer pass.
“Maybe that is a lack of energy because of the number of games we’ve played; the speed of our attacking combinations is not quite as we want it. Our heart and effort is there though.
“It is great to see Jamie Vardy back on the pitch; he needs more minutes to get up to speed because he’s just returned to training, but hopefully he can contribute between now and the end of the season.”
Did you know?
Leicester are unbeaten in six games in the league on home soil (W3 D3), their longest run without defeat at home since a run of 11 between April and December 2019 (W8 D3). The Foxes have also lost just one of their last eight games in all competitions (W3 D4).
Villa are without a win in five league games (D1 L4) after winning three in a row before that. They last endured a longer winless run in the top flight between February and July 2020 (10 games).
Leicester failed to score at home in the Premier League for the first time in 10 games after drawing a blank in their last two before that (against Arsenal and Chelsea).
Villa became the last side to draw a game away from home in the Premier League this season.
