Things at Anfield could not be going much better under new manager Arne Slot. Liverpool are top of the league and both their main domestic rivals, Arsenal and Manchester City, are in what a manager from mainland Europe would undoubtedly refer to as a “bad moment.”
In the rejigged Champions League, they are also top since they are the only team of the 36 involved to have won each and every one of their matches thus far. If Slot carries on like this, then he has a chance of overtaking the Beatles in terms of popularity with the red half of the city.
There is a slight after-the-Lord-Mayor’s-Show feel to Aston Villa this season in the wake of the heroics of last term. They are sixth in the league but had won every game in Europe until this week when Tyrone Mings bafflingly picked up the ball from Emiliano Martinez’s goal kick, a move Unai Emery labelled the biggest mistake he’s witnessed in his managerial career.
The punishment was a penalty and a 1-0 defeat to Club Brugge. Still, Villa are level on points with Chelsea in fourth in the Premier League and will hope they can prove they were not mere one-season wonders. Ideally all of their players will also remember the rules for the duration of the match on Merseyside.
For the first time since May, Villa have lost three in a row. The fact that that run includes a home defeat to Crystal Palace and a 4-1 hammering at Spurs will be worrying for Emery and the supporters. That’s not to mention that they even failed to beat Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United at home in October, perhaps the most ominous result of them all.
Diogo Jota, Alisson Becker, Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa are all unlikely to figure for the hosts while the visitors will be without Ross Barkley and possibly have to cope without the presence of Matty Cash.
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Liverpool vs Aston Villa odds
Venue: Anfield — Liverpool
Time: 8 p.m. GMT (3 p.m. ET), Saturday
Form guide (league only)
Liverpool: 8-1-1, 25 points (1st); W-D-W-W-W
Aston Villa: 5-3-2, 18 points (6th); L-D-W-D-D
Match prediction
Liverpool 3-1 Aston Villa
Liverpool are in fine form and must surely be relishing seeing their main title rivals flounder. A home win early in the weekend would put the pressure on City and Arsenal, both of whom have potentially hard to navigate away games. Villa will be looking to stop the rot, especially after their midweek embarrassment, but it’s hard to look past a fairly routine home win. Liverpool should be able to extend their lead at the top of the table.
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(Photo of Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz: Jan Kruger / Getty Images)
