Leeds thrash Aston Villa as Patrick Bamford silences his critics with stunning hat-trick

The unbridled supremacy of Leeds was summed up with the final kick of the match as the otherwise outstanding Jack Harrison drove a shot into the side-netting – while four of his team-mates queued up behind him unmarked loudly demanding the simple cut-back and Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz threw his arms up wondering just what was going on. Who could blame him.

This was a stunning display by Leeds and from Patrick – or is it Hat-trick – Bamford as the striker claimed the trio of goals that took them up to third in the Premier League table. Leeds have not been so high since September 2002 and it was 10 years before that when one of their players last scored six goals in the first six league matches of the season. His name? Eric Cantona.

The Frenchman also knew all about thriving on unpopularity and although Bamford is a very different type of player and personality he is certainly not liked at Villa after the last meeting between the two sides in April 2019.

It was an anarchic Championship fixture then with Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa ordering his team to allow Villa to equalise after a controversial goal and Bamford later receiving a two-match ban for conning the referee in getting Anwar El Ghazi sent off for which he later apologised.

This time Bamford departed with a wide grin and the match-ball on an evening when Villa’s hopes of going to the top of the table were ended, along with their 100 per cent start to the season, and having conceded two goals in their opening four games they let in three here.

It could have been more – a lot more - with Bamford himself spurning two clear chances in the first-half before each of his goals surpassed the previous one with its degree of accomplishment. In the end it was another remarkable return for the faith shown in Bamford by Bielsa.

“A dream come true,” Bamford said, grinning. “When the third went in it was elation. A big moment for me. It is testament to how the team has worked. Without them I wouldn’t be able to score and Marcelo has put a lot of trust in me…People say Bielsa is a myth but we have shown Leeds are here and are here to compete.”

The praise was equally fulsome from Bielsa who even referred to the 27-year-old forward as a “noble player” and Bamford is certainly a different proposition from when he was last in the Premier League and when he was accused of lacking the hunger to succeed and scored just once in 27 appearances.

Leeds were all the more laudable considering Bielsa had to re-organise his side and re-work his defence, with captain Liam Cooper and England international Kalvin Phillips injured, and also took off Phillips’ replacement Pascal Struijk mid-way through the first-half before he was sent off.

Maybe it would have been different for Villa had Struijk been red-carded, and he could have been after fouling Luiz having already been booked, or Luke Ayling, playing at centre-half, not scampered back to clear a Jack Grealish shot off the line when the game was goalless. Villa will also argue they should have had a penalty, for a challenge on Grealish at the end of the first-half, but head coach Dean Smith did not hold back on his verdict.

"Very frustrated, especially with the last 40 minutes,” Smith said. “They scored the first goal and we got worse and they were very good. We probably got away with a 3-0 in the end with the chances they had. Who knows what would have happened if we had scored?” Still Villa are certainly far better than last season.

However Leeds were stronger, quicker and more threatening and after goalkeeper Illan Meslier saved from Grealish they took over. It was from a wonderful, free-flowing attack that led to their first goal with Harrison – providing more compelling evidence questioning why he should be in Manchester City’s squad rather than on loan - finding Rodrigo whose shot was parried by Emiliano Martinez with the ball trickling out to Bamford who tucked it home.

Suddenly Bamford was transformed. He collected a pass from Mateusz Klich and was allowed to turn and shift the ball on the lip of the Villa area before leaving Martinez rooted with a powerful drive that rippled high into the net.

The hat-trick came when Helder Costa ran in from the right, exchanged passes, and Bamford deftly evaded one challenge, held off two more defenders and caught out Martinez by clipping the ball back across the goalkeeper.

There could have been more as Leeds claimed 60 per cent possession and had 27 shots and thrillingly continued to pour forward in numbers but the victory and their magnificent return to the Premier League after the 16-year absence was emphatic enough.

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08:56 PM

Full time

Leeds have thumped Aston Villa, running them ragged in the second half to end their run of four victories with a proper hiding. 

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08:54 PM

90+3 min Villa 0 Leeds 3

Leeds still raiding down the left. Poor old Matty Cash's legs. 

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08:52 PM

90+1 min Villa 0 Leeds 3

The first of five minutes of added time begin with Ayling beating Watkins to a pass slid down the inside-left by Grealish. 

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08:51 PM

89 min Villa 0 Leeds 3

Watkins misses from 15 yards on the right, dragging his shot across goal and wide of the far post. Klich was booked for a foul on McGinn in the build-up. 

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08:47 PM

87 min Villa 0 Leeds 3

Shackleton clips a cross in from the right and Bamford rises to meet it, easily beating Mings, who is seething, but steers it straight at the keeper. 

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08:45 PM

85 min Villa 0 Leeds 3

Leeds rip Villa apart again. Raphinha with a wonderful diagonal pass frees Harrison down the left. He squares for an unmarked Hernandez who slips as he shoots and balloons it over. 

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08:43 PM

83 min Villa 0 Leeds 3

Leeds substitution: Helder Costa departs and Raphinha replaces him. 

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08:42 PM

81 min Villa 0 Leeds 3

Hernandez gets round the back and pulls the ball back but into Mings. Leeds still look dangerous in the break. 

VAR check for a Douglas Luiz handball in the box. His hand was raised by his head when it ricocheted across and hit him. 

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08:39 PM

79 min Villa 0 Leeds 3

Leeds sub: Hernandez replaces Rodrigo after the latter spooned a 25-yard free-kick over the bar. 

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08:37 PM

78 min Villa 0 Leeds 3

Barkley drags a 25-yard shot wide. 

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08:36 PM

75 min Villa 0 Leeds 3

Simply sensational goal and a hat-trick for Bamford who bends the ball around Mings while boxed in by four Villa defenders and into the goal from 12 yards. The entire move was superb, Meslier up to Rodrigo who slipped it out to Helder Costa. He shifted it in to Shackleton from the right who tapped it on to Bamford to ram every word of criticism for not being Premier League class back down his detractors' throats. 

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08:34 PM

GOAL!!!

Villa 0 Leeds 3 (Bamford)

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08:32 PM

71 min Villa 0 Leeds 2

Martinez dives to his right to save Klich's 30-yarder after Harrison and Alioski pull Villa apart down the left. Leeds go left again and Harrison whips over a cross on the run that Bamford meets at the near post but Konsa again gets the vital block in. He's been their best player. 

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08:30 PM

69 min Villa 0 Leeds 2

Leeds have deserved this lead. Villa sub: Traore comes on for Trezeguet.

Grealish is booked for a foul on Dallas and then moaning about it to the referee. 

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08:28 PM

66 min Villa 0 Leeds 2

Traduced on Twitter, Bamfird smashes in his second from 22 yards in off the underside of the crossbar, Klich having pounced on Barkley's wayward pass to storm forward and set up the centre-forward. 

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08:26 PM

GOAL!!

Villa 0 Leeds 2 (Bamford)

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08:26 PM

64 min Villa 0 Leeds 1

Bamford and Mings tangle in the box, Mings grabs Bamford by the shirt and then shoves him. VAR checks for the penalty and says no and then it looks again at Mings' reaction. Bamford probably wrapped his foot around Mings' foot but that was, strictly speaking, violent conduct from Mings. 

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08:23 PM

62 min Villa 0 Leeds 1

Leeds take a quick free-kick, catching Cash upfield and Harrison has acres to flood into. He whips over a cross that Bamford tries to flick in at the near post but Konsa managed to get a block in.  

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08:20 PM

60 min Villa 0 Leeds 1

Klich is being spoken to because he pushed Grealish over by leaning on him. Barkley complains stridently to the referee who waves him away. 

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08:19 PM

58 min Villa 0 Leeds 1

Barkley shoves Rodrigo over and Leeds have a free-kick, 25 yards out right by the right-angle of the box. Klich bends it to the far post and Helder Costa goes up but Watkins has stuck to him superbly and heads it away. 

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08:17 PM

56 min Villa 0 Leeds 1

Great counter-attacking move from Leeds, sweeping the ball from right to left as Alioski and Harrison combined to play it to Rodrigo who was sprinting down the inside-left channel. He hit a sharpp left-foot shot across Martinez who dived to his left to parry it and Bamford slotted in the rebound from five yards through Mings' legs.  

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08:15 PM

GOAL!!!

Villa 0-1 Leeds (Bamford)

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08:15 PM

56 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Smart save from Meslier from the corner, turning over Konsa's volley, hit as he made a near-post run. 

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08:13 PM

54 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Grealish runs 40 yards beats Koch, checks back on his right pursued by Koch, Ayling and Shackleton until he works a shooting opportunity from 12 yards on the angle but stabs it at Meslier as Leeds defendeers threw themselves in to block.  

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08:11 PM

52 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Villa free-kick for a Rodrigo foul on McGinn. They play it down the left for Grealish who fires his shot into the side-netting. At least I think it was a shot. 

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08:10 PM

50 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Klich robs McGinn slightly contentiously in the centre-circle, storms forward and plays it to Rodrigo. He sprays it out to Costa who checks back on to his left and fires a shot at Mings shins. Leeds recover and work it over to Alioski who spoons his shot over with his right, very much his swinger. 

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08:08 PM

48 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Harrison picked out by another excellent pass from, I think, Rodrigo. He drives into the box, shimmies to open his body and shoot with his right but can't beat Martinez from 15 yards and an angle of about 45 degrees. . 

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08:07 PM

46 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

They're off. Villa chip it long for a Trezeguet flick-on which goes into touch for a Leeds throw. Leeds switch from left to right and back again. Alioski. parallel with the 18 yard line, whips over a cross that flirts too close to Martinez. 

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08:01 PM

Struijk's foul on Grealish

 

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07:50 PM

Half-time Villa 0 Leeds 0

Good game, good game, as Bruce Forsyth used to say. Leeds have carved out more half chances and look a genuine threat down the left but Villa have had the best opportunity and it needed Ayling's goalline clearance to protect their clean sheet. 

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07:48 PM

45+1 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Leeds pour forward at pace. Rodrigo, whose passing has been very good, plays Harrison down the left. He bounds beyond Cash and pings over a daisycutter. Bamford slides in and knocks it wide with his left foot as Konsa and Mings threw themselves across to block. His run took him from the right of the area on a diagonal which meant scoring with his left was very tricky indeed.  

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07:45 PM

44 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Grealish goes flying on the 18-yard line and lands flat on his chest. He ran into Helder Costa and hence no penalty, as VAR confirms. It was outside the box in any case. 

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07:44 PM

42 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Shackleton fouls Watkins 35 yards out, wrapping his leg around him. Savage advocates a yellow card. Judge Jeffries lives.  

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07:42 PM

40 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Meslier punches out the corner and catches it when Barkley tries to hook it back into the box. Leeds counter quickly, Cash knocks it out for a throw. Dallas and Shackleton set up Rodrigo to shoot from 25 yards though he should have assessed his options better and laced it over to Harrison who was in space again on the left. Rodrigo's shot balloons into the empty stand. 

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07:41 PM

39 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Watkins drifts into the box, turns a cross towards the back post and Ayling races over to knock it behind before Trezeguet can get there. Villa corner. 

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07:39 PM

37 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Harrison and Alioski double up on on Cash and the right-back dives in to knock the ball behind when Alioski was trying to cut up the byline. Martinez catches Alioski's cross set up by the short corner. 

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07:37 PM

35 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Watkins takes too long over setting his feet to shoot from 16 yards when played in by a typically cute Grealish pass allows Klich and Koch to nick the ball away.  

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07:36 PM

34 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Shackleton dribbles forward at pace but makes the wrong decision, going for a straight ball into the box rather than picking out Harrison in space on the left. 

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07:35 PM

32 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Harrison is sent into space by a fine Rodrigo pass. Harrison beats Cash and pulls a cross back to the near post. Bamford peels away from Mings and gets there first but his flick hits Konsa. 

From the corner Bamford, surrounded by claret shirts, heads over. 

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07:33 PM

30 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Grealish glides down the left gets to the byline and stands up a cross that Meslier plucks out of the air. Meslier throws it out quickly and Rodrigo sends Alisoki who sprints 80 yards into the box but Cash gets there first as he he cuts into thee area and knocks it out for what would have been a throw had Alisoki not crashed into the right-back and the ref gives Villa a free-kick. 

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07:31 PM

28 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Villa starting to have more of the attacking momentum this past five minutes. Cash is coming into it more and more down the right. 

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07:30 PM

26 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Leeds clear the ball off the line after Watkins beats Ayling on the Villa right. Watkins drives a low cross over that Trezeguet slices but Grealish is there at the back post and hammers a superb shot past Meslier but Ayling had hared back to the line and kicks it off the whitewash. 

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07:27 PM

24 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Great pass from Shackleton, 30 yards with perfect dip  into Dallas's feet. He fires over a cross from the right that Villa scramble away and Dallas, following up, thrashes a 28-yard shot about 2ft wide of the left post. 

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07:25 PM

23 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Rodrigo is penalised for a push on Konsa as they go up to meet a right-wing cross in the Villa box. 

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07:24 PM

22 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Leeds substitution: Struijk will be replaced by Shackleton. The two fouls and the booking have done for him. Will Shackleton go to right-back and Dallas to midfield or Shakleton to slot in? Midfield for now. 

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07:22 PM

21 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Helder Costa gets down the right again, turns back on to his left and whips over a cross that Konsa has to head away. Rodrigo picks it up on the edge of the area but his threaded pass for Bamford dribbles through to the keeper. From Martinez's punt Grealish takes it down with an immaculate first touch, knocks it over Dallas and Koch races over to tackle the Villa captain and the ball rebounds safely to Meslier. 

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07:20 PM

19 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Koch makes an error that Barkley seizes upon, driving on to the misplaced pass and shooting from 30 yards ... tamely by his standards and straight at Meslier. 

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07:19 PM

17 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

McGinn attacks down the left and Dallas, Struijk and Klich ensure the only damage is a corner that Leeds defend and bomb forward. Douglas Luiz makes two vital interceptions to stop Rodrigo and then Alioski. 

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07:17 PM

15 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Alioski is played in by a cut-back corner but shoots straight at the keeper. Then Helder Costa gets free down the right and centres for  Rodrigo who can't quite sort his feet out as he makes a near-post run. He goes for the left foot finish when his right would have been more straightforward and slices it across goal.  

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07:15 PM

13 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Struijk wins the ball but leaves a trailing leg on McGinn. The referee lets it go with only a free-kick. Leeds pour forward after Struijk wins the ball back, shifts the ball up the left for Alioski who bends in a fine cross fro Rodrigo and his headed effort from 12 yards is deflected wide for a corner. 

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07:13 PM

11 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Struijk is booked for a foul on Grealish, lunging across him and tripping him as he ran through the centre-circle. 

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07:12 PM

10 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Good game this. Villa are moving the ball quickly. Leeds are moving themselves quickly, interchanging positions with the switch and the whirl. Douglas Luiz intercepts the ball when Bamford was shaping to turn in the box and sparks an attack. 

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07:10 PM

8 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Rodrigo knocks Douglas Luiz over as they go up for a challenge on halfway. Free-kick. Villa give the ball straight away and Helder Costa goes on a run up the right where Barkley tracks him all the way to the corner and forces him out of play. 

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07:08 PM

6 min Villa 0 Leeds 0 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Brilliant tackle from McGinn stops Klich getting a shot away 18 yards out after another quick passing move for Leeds. Bamford, Harrison and Alioski are linking up very well so far, pushing Cash back. 

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07:07 PM

4 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Villa come back with a slick passing move of their own but Leeds defend it and send Alioski up the left. He takes the cross early, bending it into Bamford's path 15 yards out and the No9 dives in to head just wide.  

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07:05 PM

2 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Struijk wins the ball back from the throw-in and plays it back to Alioski who knocks it long. Villa mop it up and come back but the move breaks down when Trezeguet shoves Alioski over. Leeds shift it up front quickly from the free-kick. Costa' has a left-foot shot with Dallas on the outside that is blocked then Alioski plays Harrison down the left and his deep cross is headed away by Mings. 

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07:03 PM

1 min Villa 0 Leeds 0

Leeds kick off, attacking with the Holte End at their back, moving the ball back to Meslier who shanks a pass out up the left. 

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06:58 PM

The teams are in the tunnel

Villa in claret and blue, Leeds in the green and blue stripes. 

Robbie Savage is tonight's pundit. £15!

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06:55 PM

The managers speak

Dean Smith The players are picking their shirts at the moment, and consistency breeds confidence. We have to have the same mentality and match their work rate; they’re one of the fittest teams in the league. But we’ll show our quality as well, what we’re about and why we’ve got the results we’ve had so far.

Marcelo Bielsa  Bueno. We will miss Kalvin. We will try to attack in numbers, as we always do, and try to create as many chances as possible.

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06:45 PM

Luke Ayling captains Leeds tonight

 

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06:37 PM

Waiting for the PPV to start working

You get only 15 minutes of build-up for your £15. 

Some thoughts before the game that Dallas might go man-to-man on Grealish but if he's going to start as an orthodox right-back he'll be on that side anyway. Alioski filled in well at left-back last season but wasn't anywhere near his best in his only start in the draw with Manchester City. 

Ezri Konsa looks the real deal to me now. He has really kicked on since the lockdown and that partnership with Mings who, I thought, had a ropey first six months of 2019-20 despite the England call-up. Looks very solid now. Both full-backs are very good, too and I remain convinced that Arsenal sold the wrong keeper. 

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06:28 PM

Your teams in black and white

Aston Villa Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett; Douglas Luiz, McGinn; Trezeguet, Barkley, Grealish; Watkins.
Substitutes Steer, Hourihane, Traore, Nakamba, Engels, Elmohamady, Davis.

Leeds United Meslier; Dallas, Ayling, Koch, Alioski; Struijk; Helder Costa, Klich, Rodrigo, Harrison; Bamford.
Substitutes Casilla, Poveda, Roberts, Raphinha, Hernandez, Davis, Shackleton.

Referee  Paul Tierney (Wigan).

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06:02 PM

No surprises with Villa

🟣 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🟣

This is your Aston Villa team to face Leeds United! 👊#AVLLEE pic.twitter.com/0Y2jwkeKc4

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) October 23, 2020

 

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06:01 PM

No Cooper for Leeds

Alioski replaces Phillips and the defence is rearranged.

📋 Your #LUFC Starting XI...

— Leeds United (@LUFC) October 23, 2020

 

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05:31 PM

Good evening

The Telegraph has forked out £14.95, the extortionate price 19 Premier League clubs voted to approve when switching matches outside existing TV contracts to PPV during the time of Covid, so you don't have to. Thousands of football fans have chosen to give the money instead to foodbanks and charities in their cities and towns. The Villa Trust is asking fans to donate to Aston and Nechells Foodbank; Leeds United Supporters' Trust is backing the Leeds Fans Foodbank. . 

The match begins with Villa, who have won four of four, in second place and poised to go top with a win or a draw and Leeds back in 10th with seven points from five games, having lost for the second time this season on Monday against Wolves. It was a pretty tight match, settled by a flukey goal, but there was a lack of incisiveness up front for Leeds and the crossing, having dominated the flanks in the first half, wasn't good enough. That, plus the injury to Kalvin Phillps, would make most fans a little apprehensive.

By contrast Villa, after their fluent vibrancy in the mullering of Liverpool, ground out an impressive 1-0 victory over Leicester on Sunday night, settled by an excellent Ross Barkley goal.

Leeds won on their last visit to Villa Park at Christms 2018 when Kemar Roofe grabbed the late winner but it is the match at Elland Road that season, when Leeds ultimately finished third and Villa went up via the play-offs, that stirred more uproar over Mateusz Klich's goal and Marcelo Bielsa's instruction to his players to let in a walk-in equaliser once alerted that his players had breached an unwritten protocol. That match ended one each and stirred up some rancour which may well wither in the absence of a crowd. 

Keinan Davis might make it back on to the bench for Villa but Kortney Hause might need another week and both long-term casualties, Tom Heaton and Wesley, remain unavailable. Bielsa said on Thursday that Pascal Struijk, a Dutch centre-back who played the last three games of the Championship season in his place, will stand in for Phillips in midfield, Diego Llorente is out which means if captain Liam Cooper, who wasn't fit to play against Wolves isn't ready, Luke Ayling will have to play at centre-back and either Jamie Shackleton or Stuart Dallas will move to the right. 

We'll have the team news at 7pm