Liverpool will entertain Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday evening hoping to return to winning ways in the Premier League. The Reds suffered a disappointing 4-0 loss away at Manchester City in midweek. Therefore, we can expect the home side to use this contest versus the Villans as an opportunity to bounce back and stretch their 20-point lead at the top of the league table.
The West Midlands club are currently fighting for their top-flight lives, so they will have to figure out a way to put an end to their nine-match winless run across all competitions this weekend.
Talking Tactics
Jurgen Klopp will stick with his preferred 4-3-3 formation and might make a couple of changes to his starting XI for this upcoming league encounter at Merseyside. The German head coach will instruct his players to produce a much-improved display when the Villans visit Anfield tomorrow evening.
Dean Smith will opt for a 4-3-3 set-up as well so that his players can match the opposition stride for stride across the field. The visitors will look to sit deep and soak in all the Liverpool pressure before trying to cause a few problems for the opposition defenders on the counter.
Team News
Liverpool
Both Dejan Lovren and Xherdan Shaqiri are significant concerns ahead of this game. The Liverpool boss decided to take Joe Gomez off at half-time versus Man City as a precaution in midweek but will likely start him once again alongside Virgil Van Dijk at the heart of the Liverpool backline. Both Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum might be given a rest but should be fit enough to start on the bench this weekend.
Liverpool Predicted XI
Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Fabinho, Keita, Salah, Firmino, Mane
Aston Villa
Matt Targett will miss out on this clash due to a hamstring injury. Both Bjorn Engels and Frédéric Guilbert are significant doubts for this game. Therefore, Smith might stick with Ezri Konsa and Kourtney Hause for this league encounter at Anfield this weekend.
Aston Villa Predicted XI
Nyland, Konsa, Hause, Mings, Taylor, McGinn, Luiz, Nakamba, Elmohamady, Davis, Grealish
Key Men
Liverpool
Both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane had an off-day against the Citizens on Thursday, so they will be desperate to get their names on the scoresheet this weekend. Andrew Robertson is also due a good performance and might fancy his chances of exposing the Villans defence down the left flank.
Aston Villa
Jack Grealish will once again be Villa’s main man in the opposition half. A lot of the visiting side’s attacks will go through him while Keinan Davis looks to make himself an ideal targetman down the middle. At the other end, the defensive performance of Kourtney Hause and Tyrone Mings could very well end up determining the outcome of this contest.
Odds
The bookmakers have made Liverpool the clear favourites to emerge victorious at Merseyside after they were priced at 4/13. The draw has been listed as 47/10 while the Villans are 8/1 underdogs to pull off an upset on the road.
