Leicester v Aston Villa: Under-pressure bosses have futures on the line
Steven Gerrard and Brendan Rodgers have no shortage of shared history.
Tomorrow could see a new, rather brutal chapter added to their story at the King Power Stadium, where victory for one could push the other closer to losing their job.
It is Leicester boss Rodgers under the biggest pressure as he prepares to face-off again with his former player and one-time Glasgow rival.
A return of just one point from the opening six Premier League matches – not to mention a sobering 5-2 hammering at Brighton last time out – has the Foxes sat bottom of the table and observers increasingly questioning whether the Northern Irishman’s tenure has run its course. Gerrard is breathing a little easier after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City saw him and his team applauded off the pitch at Villa Park but the heat will be turned right back up again if they fail to follow it up against lesser opponents.
“If we go to Leicester thinking just because we performed well (this week) if guarantees us anything, it doesn’t,” said Gerrard, who described the City result as “dangerous” in that regard.
The poor starts by both clubs led to the strange spectacle of Rodgers yesterday expressing belief Gerrard would deliver success to Villa “if given time”. He could easily have been speaking about himself. It is a safe bet the public backing will be returned when Gerrard is asked about his former manager during his press conference today.
Though it was Rodgers who oversaw the winding down of Gerrard’s playing career at Liverpool, there remains a huge mutual respect between the pair, even after jousting as the managers of Celtic and Rangers respectively. Gerrard has previously spoken of the strong influence Rodgers had on his early coaching career, particularly in terms of man-management.
As he would be quick to admit, he is still learning and the challenge tomorrow is, having elicited such a strong display from his team against City, how to go about building on it. A pertinent point, made yesterday by Tyrone Mings during an interview with club media, is Villa have often in recent years managed to conjure a big performance when the chips are down.
It is consistency which has eluded them and which they must now strive to find.
Coming up with an effective gameplan against a team like City is in many ways straightforward. Pep Guardiola’s team are always going to dominate possession, so playing on the counter was always going to be the most likely approach.
Whether the same set-up will work so effectively in a match where Villa should see far more of the ball is another matter. Leaving both Emi Buendia and Philippe Coutinho on the bench does not feel like a long-term solution. On the other hand, it might be foolish to make too many changes to an XI which produced the best performance of the season so far.
Ashley Young is likely to make his first start of the season in place of Matty Cash, while Leander Dendoncker should be available after a throat problem which saw him miss the draw with City.
