Elliott sounds warning on topsy-turvy season
FORMER Leicester City captain Matt Elliott has warned his old club will face a revitalised opposition when Aston Villa visit the King Power Stadium next Saturday, writes Andy Turner.
In stark contrast to last season’s relegation battle, City’s Midland rivals are flying after a perfect start of three Premier League wins out of three, topped by what will almost certainly go down as the shock result of the season, their 7-2 demolition of champions Liverpool at Villa Park last weekend.
It wasn’t the only surprise in an extraordinary weekend that saw Manchester United embarrassed 6-1 at Old Trafford by Spurs, and Leicester go down 3-0 at home to West Ham United.
That defeat came was just a week after a remarkable 5-2 victory over Manchester City in a season that’s already produced plenty of raised eyebrows.
It’s still early days, of course, but the upshot of the astonishing turnaround in fortunes for a number of clubs is that the Manchesterbased giants find themselves in the bottom half of the table, while Everton top the division with Villa in second place, just ahead of Leicester.
And Foxes legend Elliott insists Brendan Rodgers’ side will have to dig deep if they are to bounce back from defeat and overcome a Villa side brimming with new-found quality and confidence.
“Villa are going to have that confidence now with what they’ve achieved,” the 51-year-old said, speaking to LCFC Radio.
“The dynamics of the Premier League have changed.
“They’re going into that game and Leicester are really going to have to dig in.
“They’ll have to earn that right, and then go and do their stuff.
“You have to be adaptable as a group of players.”
Reflecting on City’s defeat by the Hammers, he added: “West Ham played like a top team. They were getting at Leicester and stretching them.
“We speak about lessons to be learned, and you hear it said a lot.
“If there was a magic potion for the players, they’d give it to them, but it’s about playing to that high level in every game.”