Reigning Premier League champions Liverpool will be looking to continue their winning run to the season when they welcome in-form Aston Villa to Anfield this weekend. Jurgen Klopp’s side have played both of their last two fixtures against Arsenal, with one of them coming in the league, and the other, in the Carabao Cup. Although the Reds picked up a comfortable 3-1 win against the Gunners in their league clash last weekend, they were unable to do the same on Thursday. The match ended 0-0, after which Mikel Arteta’s men secured progress by virtue of a penalty shootout.
Despite winning all their league matches so far, Jurgen Klopp will surely not have been happy with the fact that they weren’t able to beat a heavily weakened Arsenal side. Although the Reds themselves also started with a largely second-string team, some heroics from Bernd Leno is what forced the game into the shootout. While they’ve won all three of their matches so far, Leicester City are the ones who are currently sitting atop the league table, thanks to a superior goal difference. Villa have picked up two wins from their first two league games back this season, which means that one of the two sides is sure to lose their perfect record at the end of this tie.
Team News
The signing of Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich was one that was received with massive plaudits, from not just Reds fan, but all Premier League fans in general. The Spaniard is widely considered to be among the best midfielders in the world, and that was on full display when he came on in the win against Chelsea. Now though, the Spaniard has been self-isolating after unfortunately contracting the Coronavirus. With several days of quarantine still left, Thiago is likely to play no part in this weekend’s league outing against the Villans.
Here Is The Predicted 4-3-3 Liverpool Lineup Vs Aston Villa:
Predicted 4-3-3 Liverpool Lineup Vs Aston Villa
Defence
One of the many changes that Jurgen Klopp made for the midweek defeat to Arsenal saw Spanish keeper Adrian replacing Alisson Becker in between the sticks. The Brazilian though is expected to make his return to the starting eleven for the upcoming clash. In front of him, expect to see Virgil Van Dijk starting in the heart of defence, with young Joe Gomez playing as his central defensive partner. The dynamic wide-duo of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson are expected to make their returns to the side for this encounter as well.
Midfield
Of all the changes that Klopp decided to make over the weekend, the most drastic one saw an entirely new midfield take shape for the reigning champions. The likes of Georginio Wijnaldum and Fabinho were dropped from the side, and replaced by promising names like Curtis Jones and Harry Wilson. Despite not playing too badly, expect the German manager to bring his usual favourites back into the eleven for this tie. While Fabinho will likely act as the lone midfield anchor, he will be partnered up on either side by Naby Keita and Georginio Wijnaldum.
Attack
Mohamed Salah was the only first-team regular attacker that started the game against Arsenal. Despite his best efforts, the Reds were unable to squeeze out a win within the ninety minutes. Despite starting the fixture, he was hauled off around the hour-mark by Klopp, presumably to keep him fresh for the clash against Villa on Sunday evening. Salah is expected to start the tie in the flank, with his usual partners, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino alongside him. The trio have become the nightmare of defenders all over the world, and if there was ever a game where Villa would concede a goal, then it would have to be against the free-flowing league champions.
