It’s Match Week 37 in the English Premier League and Liverpool are set to welcome Aston Villa to Anfield as they both lock horns in one of penultimate games of the season.
A game which will be a very enjoyable game of football for the neutral fan as both teams want to get all three points at all cost to stand a chance of qualifying to Europe.
Liverpool will look to ride on their imperious winning streak which stretches back across their last seven games as they target the final Champions league slot.
The Reds sit just one point behind Manchester United who are fourth and have a game in hand.
However, they need to win their remaining two games to stand a chance of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
Unai Emery’s-rejuvenated Aston Villa side have also been a formidable outfit since the turn of the year.
However, they face a daunting challenge of traveling down to face the Anfield giants.
Aston Villa are currently eyeing the Europa league and conference league spots as they sit 8th on the table with 57 points, level on points with Tottenham Hotspur who sit sixth and also a point behind Brighton who are fifth and have a game in hand.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Liverpool are the heavyweights in the fixture as they have a pretty superior advantage over Aston Villa when judging via head-to-head results.
In their last five matches, Liverpool have recorded four wins while Aston Villa have just one – the 7-2 demolition at the Villa park in 2020.
Both clubs have played a total of 55 matches in the Premier league – Liverpool winning 32 and Aston Villa winning just 13. Ten times it has ended in a stalemate.
Their most recent meeting was on 26 December, 2022 at the Villa park, goals from Stefan Bajcetic, Virgil Van Dijk and Mohammed Salah ensured Liverpool ran out 3-1 winners on the day with Ollie Watkins scoring the consolation goal for the Villans.
Team News For Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp confirmed in his presser that Darwin Nunez will not be available. He further went on to explain that he has inflammation of the tendon in his toe, and hasn’t trained.
All long term injured players still remain out, but all the rest should be available. He also said Roberto Firmino would be available.
Jurgen Klopp as well won’t be available as he will serve a touchline ban for comments he made about referee Paul Tierney.
Unai Emery also explained that Philippe Coutinho has been ruled out of Aston Villa’s remaining two games, he added that Calum Chambers should be available though.
Liverpool’s current run of seven straight Premier League victories is their longest since a 10-match streak between January and April last year.
Livrerpool’s only defeat in the past 41 home league fixtures was by 2-1 against Leeds last October (W31, D9).
Team News For Aston Villa
Aston Villa needed one more win to equal the club Premier League record of 18 in a 38-match season, set in 1995-96 when they finished fourth.
Aston Villa are guaranteed a Top-10 Premier League finish for the first time in 12 years.
Unai Emery is averaging 1.96 points per game at Villa, the third-best rate of any manager to take charge of at least 10 matches in the Premier League this season just beneath Pep Guardiola who averages 2.41 and Mikel Arteta – 2.34.
As both managers look to go all out in the hunt for three points on Saturday, they’ll be fielding their best legs.
There’s no European competition for them to look forward to, so it’s ‘all guns blazing’.
Probable Lineup of Liverpool
We see Klopp setting his team on paper in the usual 4-3-3 attacking formation.
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Jones; Salah, Gakpo, Diaz
Probable Lineup of Aston Villa
It’s most likely going to be a 4-4-2 from Unai Emery.
Martinez; Young, Konsa, Mings, Moreno; Ramsey, Kamara, Luiz, McGinn; Buendia, Watkins
Prediction:
We see it ending 1-0 in favor of the Anfield Giants as Aston Villa don’t concede much, Liverpool themselves don’t score much but they are superior.
