TANZANIAN striker Mbwana Samatta will be playing his third English Premier League (EPL) match when his team, Aston Villa visit Leicester City at King Power Stadium tonight.
It will be a tense game especially for the visitors who want nothing less than the victory to move up from their current 19th slot on the 20-team table which is not safe for them as far as relegation is concerned.
Aston Villa need to win most of their upcoming league games to remain the contest next season since from 27 matches played, they have won seven games, posted four draws and lost 16 encounters to pocket 25 points, only four points above the bottomplaced Norwich City.
The hosts, who sit third on the table with 50 points from 28 matches, will be keen to consolidate their position even though a loss will see them unmoved from their latest third slot.
Leicester City, however, go into the game on a back foot after losing 1-0 to the basement team on the log Norwich City in their past EPL match which saw they remain glued to the third place on the table.
Again, Leicester City will be seeking to revenge after losing 2-1 to Aston Villa in the second leg match of the Carabao Cup semifinals at Villa Park which saw the latter booking a final ticket against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.
On the finale day at the giant Wembley Stadium in London, Samatta scored the only goal for his side which was not enough as they suffered a 2-1 loss despite showing a convincing performance against the current Carabao champions.
However, after today’s clash, Samatta’s Aston Villa will welcome Chelsea at Villa Park on Saturday in another hot EPL fixture for the two teams as the Blues are eager to maintain their desire to finish in the top four pack to earn a licence of playing in the UEFA Champions League next season.
Still more, Aston Villa have some big names to play against such as Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal hence, they still have a long way to go by taking game after game seriously as the EPL title race nears its finishing line.
So far, Samatta has netted two goals in all competitions after he opened his scoring account against Bournemouth on his EPL debut game and he is always looking dangerous in front of the goal.
Back home, the services of Samatta will be highly needed late this month when he expects to captain his national team ‘Taifa Stars’ in their crucial 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers away against Tunisia.
It will be the first time for him to captain Stars since moving to the EPL and he has a lot to offer to the team as far as inspiration to the young players who also want to reach high in the football industry is concerned.
Tanzania is packed in group J of the AFCON 2021 qualifiers together with Tunisia, Libya and Equatorial Guinea with many labelling the group as fair for the country’s envoys.
