Villa travel to Yorkshire on Saturday, to take on Leeds United for the first time since February 2004.
On that day at Villa Park, goals from Juan Pablo Angel and Ronny Johnson gave Villa a comfortable 2-0 win against a Leeds team that would be relegated from the Premier League at the end of the season.
Under Gary Monk, Leeds are enjoying one of their best seasons since being relegated in 2004, with Leeds currently sitting in the play-off spots whilst also reaching the quarter-final stage of the EFL Cup before being knocked out by Liverpool on Tuesday.
However, on Saturday evening they will face a Villa side enjoying a renaissance under Steve Bruce, with Villa unbeaten in seven games since the former Hull manager took over in October.
Saturday’s comfortable 3-1 win over Cardiff saw Villa rise to 11th in the table and continue to close the gap on the top six.
Speaking earlier in the week ahead of the Leeds game, Bruce emphasised that Villa need to continue their recent upturn in form as they head into the busy festive period.
“We are now coming into December – it’s a huge, huge month. It’s a big, big month with six games to play.
“It’s a critical period for us. We go into it buoyed with a little bit of confidence and looking forward to the big challenge of it.
“It’s usually key to where you’re going to be. We have a lot of games. Let’s hope we can continue the good form at Leeds next weekend.”
A win on Saturday evening could see Villa close the gap on the play-off positions to just one point, as long as other results go Villa’s way.
