Former Liverpool legend, Steven Gerrard, returns to Anfield as Villa boss and looks to get one over on his former club. The Reds need three points to stay in the hunt for Premier League first place!
Searching for a seventh win in succession in all competitions, Liverpool welcome Steven Gerrard back to Anfield for Saturday’s English Premier League (EPL) encounter with Aston Villa.
The Reds sank AC Milan 2-1 in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, while the Villans triumphed over Leicester City by the same scoreline last Sunday.
Heading into this clash, Jürgen Klopp’s side occupy second place in the EPL table, just one point behind leaders, Manchester City, who have 35.
Meanwhile, Gerrard’s visitors are sitting right in the middle of the pack, in tenth place and with 19 EPL points so far.
In squad news, Reds duo Joe Gomez and Naby Keita were fit enough to be used as substitutes in the victory at AC Milan. However, Curtis Jones, Roberto Firmino, and Harvey Elliott are all definite Liverpool absentees.
As expected, Klopp made numerous changes for the trip to Milan, and Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcântara all look likely to come back into the first XI.
Divock Origi will come into serious consideration for a start, due to his recent goal-scoring form, but Diogo Jota was omitted from the midweek squad entirely and is favourite to slot back into the starting lineup.
For Villa, forwards, Trézéguet, Leon Bailey, and Bertrand Traoré remain out of contention. Although the former did recently make a comeback for the Under-23s against Birmingham City.
Danny Ings is apparently in with a decent chance of featuring against his former employers, while Matt Targett could also return from a head injury and replace Ashley Young at left-back.
Young will not give up his spot easily, though, with Gerrard possibly seeing no reason to alter his starting XI, after an encouraging win against Leicester.
Liverpool playing at home should have too much for Gerrard’s visitors. Our prediction is 3-0 to the Reds, with two goals netted in the first 45 minutes.
Liverpool possible starting XI:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Jota, Mané
Aston Villa possible starting XI:
Martínez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Young; McGinn, Nakamba, Luiz; Ramsey, Buendía; Watkins
