England Premier League
Monday 26th December 2022
Kick off at 5:30pm GMT
Venue: Villa Park
Match Preview:
This has so far been a fairly miserable season for Aston Villa which has seen Steven Gerrard sacked but fans will be more optimistic now as they have Unai Emery in charge. Indeed before the break Villa won their last two games beating Manchester United and Brighton and there is a buzz even if a small one about the club now.
Villa did play Villarreal in a friendly during the break and they lost that one 1-0 against Emery’s former club. With 3 wins from their last four the Villains have climbed up to 12th place and have 18 points and a win here would put them just a point behind their visitors for this game. At home Villa actually has the 6th best record with four wins from seven games and on the plus side they have scored seven goals in their last two.
By Liverpool’s standards their season has been poor so far, here we have a side that were being tipped as the champions or at least to run whoever wins the league close but after having played 14 games they are 15 points behind the league leaders Arsenal and are in 6th place. In midweek the Reds were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Manchester City losing that game 3-2, but they did show some fight and it was always going to be a difficult game playing away from home. However just before the break Jurgen Klopp’s side recorded two wins in a row beating the in form Tottenham away from home and easing to a 3-1 win over Southampton. One would be tempted to say that Liverpool are back but with this break who knows how form may play out?
Away from home has been the Reds Achilles heel and they would currently rank in 14th place based on that alone. They have won just 5 points from a possible 18 on offer, however they did win their last away game.
Team News:
Aston Villa: Phillipe Coutinho is back in training but is only 50/50 to make this game. Jacob Ramsey is being tipped to return after a knock, Emiliano Martinez has been allowed the time off after winning the World Cup. Robin Olsen will be assessed but should be tip top ready for this game. Diego Carlos is out long term with an Achilles injury.
Liverpool: Trent Alexander-Arnold missed the cup tie in midweek with a virus and will be assessed, a late call may be made on him. Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz remain out with a hamstring and knee injury, Diaz was due back around this time but it is feared he has a setback now and may not return until March. Curtis Jones looks set to miss out due to fitness issues. James Milner will be assessed for a minor hamstring injury and Roberto Firmino is only 50/50 to make this game due to a knock.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool Head to Head:
Last season Liverpool won this fixture 2-1.
Liverpool have won the last 4 meetings in a row.
Aston Villa have scored 9 goals past Liverpool in their last 3 home meetings.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool Prediction:
This is a new version of Aston Villa at the moment and they look like playing more without fear. The decision to bring in the experience of Emery should be a good one and the team will be battle ready. It is true that Liverpool have steadied the boat somewhat in the league but the feeling for teams playing them just now is that they will continue to get opportunities against them and some Reds players may just be a little fatigued with international duty.
We’re still going to go for an away win but Liverpool will be made to work hard for it. This is a fixture that can throw up a lot of goals and we think we will witness that once again. True we don’t expect to see 9 of them like when Villa won 7-2 a few seasons ago but we could well see at least 3 and backing over 2.5 goals should be taken on. With the majority of the front line out for Liverpool there will be a lot of focus on Mohamed Salah to score plenty of goals in the next few months and make his mark on the Premier League once again and we will be backing him to score in this fixture.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool Betting Tips:
Liverpool to beat Aston Villa at 1.70
Anytime goalscorer: Mohamed Salah at 2.50
Over 2.5 goals at 1.65
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