Leeds United’s rearranged Premier League fixture against Aston Villa at Elland Road is expected to take place on Saturday 5th February (3pm kick-off) – but only if the Villains exit the FA Cup this evening against Manchester United.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side were dumped out of the competition yesterday by West Ham, leaving them with a free weekend when the FA Cup 4th Round takes place between Friday 4th February and Monday 7th February.
Should Steven Gerrard’s team suffer the same fate as the Whites in a difficult looking tie at Old Trafford on Monday night, then it is expected the two teams will play their belated league clash in West Yorkshire on the Saturday of that Cup weekend.
The match will be live on Amazon Prime with the broadcaster having the rights to the original fixture at Christmas, and with there being no FA Cup fixture scheduled for live TV on the traditional 3pm Saturday slot, a kick-off time normally favoured by the fans, all parties have provisional agreed to the new date and time.
The sides were originally due to meet at the end of last year on Tuesday 28th December (5.30pm kick-off) but the game was postponed due to Leeds being unable to field a team through a combination of injuries and Covid-19 cases.
Interestingly, should the match take place on the provisional new date, it will be the first of back-to-back league fixtures with the two sides scheduled to meet at Villa Park on Wednesday 9th February – meaning the teams will play twice in the space of five days.
Over the last few years, Leeds and Villa have built up a fierce rivalry which was born out of the season they battled for promotion to the Premier League in 2018/2019 – playing two ill-tempered matches.
Last season saw both teams win on each other’s home turf and with supporters now back in the ground, both sets of fans are eagerly anticipating the two teams locking horns again.
But having been made to wait following December’s postponement, it seems the teams will waste no time in rearranging the match should the window of opportunity open in the coming hours.
