League leaders Liverpool visit Villa Park on Wednesday evening, hoping to beat Aston Villa to continue their push for the Premier League title.
The Reds did enough to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 at Anfield last weekend thanks to goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah. The victory helped Arne Slot’s side bounce back from dropping two points at the death in the heated Merseyside derby at Goodison Park last week.
Meanwhile, the Villans have had an up and down Premier League season. They have slipped to ninth in the table and were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by 10-man Ipswich Town at home last weekend. So, Unai Emery’s side must be waiting to put things right in the next game and put a spanner in Liverpool’s works.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool—Team News
Boubacar Kamara remains a big doubt for Liverpool’s visit after he was forced off against Ipswich Town. Leon Bailey also missed the last game and will be evaluated ahead of midweek’s big fixture. Pau Torres, Matty Cash, Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley and Ezri Konsa all remain sidelined due to injury problems.
As for Liverpool, Cody Gakpo will miss the away fixture at Villa Park with a knock which forced him to sit out the Wolves win too. Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton are also out, but Arne Slot will welcome back Curtis Jones in his squad after the central midfielder served a one-game suspension against Wolves on Sunday.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool—Predicted Lineups
Predicted Aston Villa XI (4-2-3-1): Emiliano Martinez; Andres Garcia, Tyrone Mings, Axel Disasi, Lucas Digne; Youri Tielemans, John McGinn; Jacob Ramsey, Morgan Rogers, Marco Asensio; Ollie Watkins.
Predicted Liverpool XI (4-2-3-1): Alisson Becker; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Kostas Tsimikas; Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister; Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, Luis Diaz; Darwin Nunez.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool—Key Players
Aston Villa—Morgan Rogers
Morgan Rogers has been head and shoulders above his Villa teammates this season, creating chances, making assists and scoring goals. He is proving to be a complete package for Unai Emery’s side, and if the England international gets on his groove on Wednesday, the creative attacker could single-handedly wreak havoc against Liverpool.
Liverpool—Mohamed Salah
There is no looking past Mohamed Salah here. The Egyptian is enjoying his best season at Anfield, taking his goal tally to 23 in the league on Sunday with a composed penalty in the 2-1 win over Wolves. Three days earlier, the 32-year-old scored and assisted in the 2-2 draw with Everton at Goodison Park, proving his worth to the team once again. He is in scintillating form and can hurt Villa in one blink of an eye.
Prediction: Aston Villa 1-1 Liverpool
I am Rohan Sengupta from one of the busiest cities in India, Mumbai. A Journalism graduate with a keen interest in sports, football is something I simply cannot live without and writing, discussing and analyzing the game is what I do 24*7.
