Leicester City draw with Burnley, Sheffield United beat Aston Villa

Rodgers’ injury list is growing, with Harvey Barnes the latest player out to join James Maddison, James Justin and Jonny Evans on the sidelines.

It forced the Leicester manager to field a makeshift line-up against Burnley and one of the fringe players called up, Hamza Choudhury, was at fault for Burnley’s goal.

Choudhury’s weak back pass was seized on by Vydra, who went round Wilfred Ndidi and shot high past Kasper Schmeichel.

Iheanacho equalised when he spun his marker and met a floated pass forward by Ndidi with a volley on the turn that flew past outrushing Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope, whose positioning was open to question.

Youri Tielemans struck the post in the closing minutes for Leicester, but Burnley applied more pressure with Schmeichel producing fine saves to keep out headers by James Tarkowski and Chris Wood.

Leicester also struggled with injuries late last season and dropped out of the Champions League places in the final weeks of the season on the back of just two wins from their last nine games.

Blades hold on for vital win

A poacher’s goal from David McGoldrick gave bottom side Sheffield United a 1-0 home win over Aston Villa, as they overcame Phil Jagielka’s sending off to grab their fourth victory of the season.

The home side took the lead on the half-hour mark when McGoldrick started an attack with a sweeping pass out to George Baldock and then timed his run perfectly, stealing in at the far post to bundle home the wing-back’s cross-shot.

The strike was McGoldrick’s sixth of the season and brought a welcome end to a run of three goalless games for the Blades.

Though Ollie Watkins hit the crossbar with a glancing header in the 54th minute, it was the closest Villa came as they struggled to create decent opportunities.

Jagielka was shown a red card in the 57th minute after a lengthy VAR review for a foul on Anwar El-Ghazi, who referee Robert Jones ruled was through on goal, and United were forced onto the back foot for the rest of the game.

Villa poured forward looking for an equaliser, but with playmaker Jack Grealish missing due to injury, their final ball into the box often lacked quality.

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Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez came up for some corners in a frenetic four minutes of stoppage time, but his opposite number Aaron Ramsdale was rock-solid in the United goal as his side hung on.

The victory leaves them on 14 points after 27 games, 12 behind 17th-placed Newcastle United. Villa are ninth on 39 points.

“We knew it would be a tough game and it got tougher when we went down to 10 men, but it showed how much we’re fighting for this club,” goalscorer McGoldrick told BT Sport.

“We showed massive character. We all care about the club, we’re still fighting for our lives and our future. We’re still fighting until the end.”

AP