Leeds vs Aston Villa LIVE: Result and reaction from Premier League fixture tonight
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Your support makes all the difference.Follow all the action as Leeds welcome Aston Villa to Elland Road in the Premier League this afternoon.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side are in high spirits after a dominant 3-0 victory against Southampton last time out, with Patrick Bamford adding a 13th league goal to his tally this season. That victory saw Leeds move 13 points clear of the relegation zone and they are now just five points adrift of sixth-placed Liverpool in what has been a brilliant first season back in the top flight.
Aston Villa, meanwhile, will be wary of succumbing to a slump in the absence of their talisman, Jack Grealish. The captain’s shin injury has seen him miss the last two matches, with Villa lucky to take a point against Brighton before losing against Leicester last weekend. Dean Smith’s side remain in a terrific position in the table, though, and a top-six finish is certainly within reach, trailing Liverpool by just four points while also boasting two games in hand. Follow all the action live below:
Match Report
Aston Villa outwit Leeds as El Ghazi’s early strike seals victory
Leeds 0-1 Aston Villa: Dean Smith’s side got back on track despite the continued absence of Jack Grealish
Reaction from Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn
Not many people would have fancied us without Jack [Grealish]. Leeds are really fit, they make you work hard for the goal. We got it early today and showed lots of character.
“They have a lot of threat but it leaves some weaknesses at the back. We maybe sat back a bit too much, but we’ll take the three points. It’s massive.
“We’ve got the chance [to finish in the top six] but there are some top teams in there. We’ll just take it game by game, starting on Wednesday [at Sheffield United] – that’ll be a tough game as well.”
Reaction from Dean Smith
The players deserve lots of credit. Our game plan came off really well. We pressed them really well.
“We probably made it too open at times, but we restricted them to very few chances in the second half. We wanted to play with safety first and we did that.
“We made a really good start and got on the front foot early. Our intensity levels were certainly a lot better than they were last week. In the first half against Leicester there wasn’t as much intensity as I’d like. Today was a different game.
“We want him [Jack Grealish] in our team because of the top player he is, but we’ve shown today we’re a top team. We’ve come to a team that scores goals freely and kept another clean sheet.”
There’s no change in the Premier League standings as Aston Villa remain in eighth but their three points closer to the European places. They’re now four points behind Chelsea in fifth with a game in hand to play.
Emi Martinez now has 13 clean sheets for Aston Villa in the Premier League this season with only Manchester City’s Ederson (15) having more.
Leeds 0 - 1 Aston Villa
90+5 mins: Full time. Aston Villa hold on. They scored in the fifth minute and have held Leeds at bay for another 90. Wonderful defensive performance from the Villans as they take all three points away from Elland Road.
Leeds 0 - 1 Aston Villa
90+2 mins: Leeds wins a corner in the dying minutes. Meslier comes forward for Leeds and marks Martinez. There’s some argy bargy in the box as the cross comes in but Martinez comes confidently off his line and plucks the ball out of the air.
Leeds 0 - 1 Aston Villa
90 mins: Trezeguet comes on for Aston Villa replacing Anwar El Ghazi. It’s his 50th Premier League appearance and he’ll have five added minutes to play.
Leeds 0 - 1 Aston Villa
87 mins: Ayling whips a cross into the box. Bamford gets in front of Konsa and wins the header but the Villa defender gets a touch to the ball and works it wide of goal. Leeds’ corner comes into the box and Villa squeeze it clear.
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