Aston Villa v Liverpool preview: Team news, lineups, betting odds, prediction
Aston Villa will be looking to pick up their first Premier League win in five attempts when they face leaders Liverpool on Wednesday.
Unai Emery’s side were booed off the pitch at Villa Park following their 1-1 draw with relegation-threatened Ipswich Town on Saturday, having come back from behind against the 10-man Tractor Boys.
Villa dominated late on and looked likely to find a winner with goalscorer Ollie Watkins and Marcus Rashford in top form, but the fact is that they’ve collected just three points from the last 12 available.
Draws with Arsenal and West Ham preceded the Lions’ shock loss at Wolves prior to Saturday’s result, and facing a Liverpool side unbeaten in the league since September, Emery‘s side face a tough task.
Aston Villa v Liverpool Preview
Although the Villans’ performances in progress on the continent and in the FA Cup in recent weeks can be commended highly, their Premier League form has been sorely lacking over the same period.
Their two narrow victories over relegation-threatened Leicester and Everton last month break up an eight-game spell since the turn of the year in which they’ve picked up just four other points.
Snapping his side out of that winless streak against a side like Liverpool – seven points clear at the top of the table – will certainly be a tall order for Emery, despite some bright points against Ipswich.
Going 1-0 down to a depleted side sat in the bottom three shocked Villa Park into silence and left the Lions with a mountain to climb; Watkins’ tap-in from close range bailing them out with 21 minutes left.
Liverpool may have struggled to a 2-1 win over lowly Wolves themselves, but given they’ve already beaten Villa 2-0 in the reverse fixture at Anfield earlier this season, the visitors will be full of confidence.
Form Guide [all competitions]
Aston Villa: LDWLWD
Liverpool: LWWLDW
Aston Villa v Liverpool Team News
The impact made by Emery’s substitutes against Ipswich proved to be a key factor in salvaging a point last time out, and that could weigh heavily on the Spaniard’s thinking when it comes to team selection.
As many as four changes could be made to the Aston Villa XI for the visit of Liverpool one of which will be enforced with makeshift centre-back Boubacar Kamara set to be out for the next two weeks at least.
Tyrone Mings, however, could make his own return to injury alongside Ian Maatsen in the backline, with Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers dropped in favour of Rashford and Marco Asensio starting out wide.
Asensio and Rashford both impressed off the bench against Ipswich, with the latter’s free-kick leading directly to Watkins’ equaliser and Asensio also testing goalkeeper Alex Palmer in the latter stages.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have no fresh injury concerns ahead of this game, with Joe Gomez and Cody Gakpo still sidelined after missing their 2-1 win over Wolves on Sunday.
Predicted lineups
Aston Villa: Martinez, Garcia, Disasi, Mings, Maatsen, McGinn, Tielemans, Asensio, Rogers, Rashford, Watkins
Liverpool: Alisson, Bradley, Quansah, Van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz, Jota
Betting Odds
Aston Villa: 29/10
Draw: 3/1
Liverpool: 5/6
(All odds according to bet365 as of 18 February)
Prediction: Aston Villa 2-2 Liverpool
Although Villa’s league form has stuttered significantly of late, Wednesday’s match is the first of three in a row for the Lions which isn’t disrupted by their participation in other cup or European competitions.
There’s just three days between this match and the Villans hosting Chelsea on Saturday, with another three-day gap between that contest and their trip to Crystal Palace on 25 February.
Liverpool, however, have almost one full day’s less rest time after playing Wolves on Sunday, and with this game brought forward to accommodate the EFL Cup final, their schedule is stacking up too.
As a result, rotations will be in order for both sides, and with Emery potentially set to unleash Rashford and Asensio from the start against Liverpool, Villa could cause them plenty of problems.
Few Villa fans will head into this match with much confident, but Emery could have a few tricks up his sleeve to ensure his side come away from the contest with the points shared.