‘Grealish will really test Foxes’
JULIAN JOACHIM enjoys legendary status at both Leicester and Aston Villa – but he’s tipping Brendan Rodgers’ men to emerge victorious in today’s Midlands showdown.
The 46-year-old former frontman (below) burst onto the scene with the Foxes as a teenager and made 119 appearances between 1992 and 1996, scoring 31 goals.
Villa also remain close to his heart but Joachim said: “I’m a Leicester supporter and was so proud when they won the Premier League in 2016.
“I’m extremely pleased to see both clubs doing so well. I thought Villa had a hard season last year but they have got to grips with the division and are going from strength to strength.
“For today’s game, I’m going to go for a 3-1 Leicester win with Jamie Vardy getting a brace.
“But I’m a big admirer of Jack Grealish’s talent and he will cause problems. This is a great game for the neutral because they are evenly matched and play attacking football.”
Joachim came through Leicester’s youth system and recalled: “I went on to score some great goals, including one at Barnsley in the FA Cup which I still see shared regularly on social media 28 years on!
“And I will never forget scoring the club’s first-ever Premier League goal.”
He was reunited with ex-Leicester boss Brian Little at Villa after the Foxes were relegated, and made 174 Villans appearances scoring 45 goals.
He added: “I loved my time at Villa and played with great players. We had some great achievements including going top of the Premier League, for the first time in my career.”
These days Joachim is still playing non-league football to keep fit, and is co-founder of two football social-media platforms which will be launching this year, PlayerTrader.com and TrueFans.app.