England – Carabao Cup
Date: Wednesday, 8 January 2020
Kick-off at 20:00 UK / 21:00 CET
Venue: King Power Stadium.
This is a fantastic season for Leicester City so far.
Can they top it all off by winning the cup?
their run to the semi-finals has seen them take two shoot-out so it is not easy.
In the second half, they edged past Newcastle on penalties before hammering Luton Burton 4-0 and 3-1, both away from home.
In the quarter-finals, they again came through on penalties, winning 2-0 at Everton though they needed a spot-kick for progress.
Now here though, they will very much fancy their chances of a trip to Wembley.
Last time in the Premier League, they easily defeated Newcastle 3-0 at St James' Park.
Ayoze Perez, James Maddison and Hamza Choudhury purpose.
That makes it back to back wins that, despite the wobble around ten Christmas, Fox has actually won of their last 13 league matches.
That leaves Brendan Rodgers' two sides in the table, one point ahead of Manchester City but, more importantly, 14 points clear of fifth place.
European football looks set to be returned to the King Power and certainly it will be from a variety of the Champions League.
It would be a tremendous achievement.
But now, their focus will be trying to reach the Cup final.
On Saturday night, they defeated Wigan Athletic 2-0 in the FA Cup third round to remain in the competition.
But first, in this competition, having come this far they will be desperate to not fall at the semifinal stage.
Given that Leicester won 4-1 at Villa Park 31 days ago, Fox came to this one as a big favorite.
Opta facts
Leicester and Aston Villa faced in the League Cup semi-finals last time Foxes reach this stage in 1999/2000, with Leicester winning 1-0 on aggregate and went on to win the trophy.
Aston Villa have lost their last two away games against Leicester, in the Premier League during 2015 - their last away win in Power King is behind the League Cup in October 2006, a 3-2 win under Martin O'Neill.
Leicester have gone on to reach the final of the UEFA Cup in each of the five occasions they have played in the semi-finals stage (1963-1964, 1964-1965, 1996-1997, 1998-1999 and 1999/2000).
It is Aston Villa League Cup tie 15 semi-final and their first since 2012/13, when they lost 4-3 on aggregate to Bradford City. They just won the first leg in two of the previous 14 Champions Cup semi-finals they (W2 D7 L5).
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has progressed from the last 30 trophies household relationship with Liverpool, Celtic and Leicester - the last team to beat Rodgers is Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-finals in 2014/15, when he was manager of Liverpool.
Aston Villa has scored 16 goals in the League Cup this season, six more than any other team. They had twice won by five goals this season (6-1 v Crewe, 5-0 v Liverpool), the first team to achieve that in a single campaign since Man City League Cup in 2013/14, to win a tournament.
Leicester James Maddison has scored four goals and assisted five in eight League Cup appearances, scoring in each of the three games this season.
Aston Villa have won four of their League Cup final game, then won five in the back row in October 1994.
PREDICTION
Leicester 3-0 Aston Villa
It's hard to see anything other than a comfortable Leicester victory in this match, especially if they field a full strength side against an injury-ravaged selection Villa. The Foxes cruised to victory at Villa Park in the league and may find it easier in front of their own fans, and visitors would do well to just still in the game after this first leg.
