A mouth-watering Premier League clash sees Liverpool, seeking a clean Champions League slate, host an Aston Villa still smarting from a recent continental defeat. Liverpool is in great form, especially after routing Bayer Leverkusen midweek, with Villa highly motivated to make amends after a very controversial loss to Club Brugge.
Match Preview
Liverpool goes into Saturday’s encounter high, leading in the Premier League and also tops in their Champions League group after the boss Arne Slot led through Bayer Leverkusen with a 4-0 win, powered by a hat-trick from the Colombian starlet Luis Diaz. This was their sixth successive home win in all competitions, each game seeing at least two Liverpool goals. Also, Liverpool’s comeback win over Brighton has them standing two points clear at the top of the league.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa had a bit more of a rough week. Following impressive wins over teams like Bayern Munich and Bologna, Villa was derailed by a weirdo penalty call in their 1-0 Champions League loss to Club Brugge. The Villa captain, Tyrone Mings, horrifically picked up the ball with a goal kick down his end for a penalty, which Brugge gratefully took advantage of. This defeat was Villa’s third in a row following their League Cup exit and a 4-1 Premier League defeat at Tottenham.
Currently sitting sixth in the league, Villa is desperate to break their eight-game winless run against Liverpool. Indeed, without May’s 3-3 draw, Villa hasn’t beaten a top-two Premier League team on the road since 2000.
Current Form
Liverpool Premier League Form: WWWWDW
Liverpool All Competitions: WWDWWW
Aston Villa Premier League Form: WDDWDL
Aston Villa All Competitions: WWDLLL
Team News and Possible Lineups
Liverpool:
Liverpool’s injury list consists of Harvey Elliott (foot), Federico Chiesa (fitness), Alisson Becker (thigh), and Diogo Jota (abdominal); all four are ruled out until after the international break. Manager Arne Slot may make one or two adjustments to his lineup, with Diaz possibly shifting back to the left wing, which could enable Darwin Nunez to start centrally. Andrew Robertson could return at left-back for Kostas Tsimikas, while Dominik Szoboszlai could come into midfield for Curtis Jones.
Liverpool Predicted XI: Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz; Nunez
Aston Villa:
Aston Villa are without Matty Cash (calf) and Ross Barkley is out due to unspecified reasons. After his howler for Belgium, Tyrone Mings might be rested giving Pau Torres a chance in defence. Amadou Onana and Jacob Ramsey can return to the starting line-up after coming on against Real Madrid replacing Boubacar Kamara and Leon Bailey.
Aston Villa Predicted XI: Martinez; Konsa, Torres, Carlos, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; McGinn, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins
Prediction
Score Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Aston Villa
The attacking powers of Liverpool at Anfield should be too much for the Villa defense. Though Villa would have their chances, Liverpool’s momentum, superior rest, and home turf should see them out with a solid win, comfortable leaders of the Premier League into the international break.
