Prediction: Liverpool vs Aston Villa

Verdict: Total home goals over 2.5

Best odds: 41/50

Bookmaker: Unibet

Liverpool are set to welcome Aston Villa to Anfield on Saturday in the 16th round of the Premier League season. It means they’ll get to see Steven Gerrard again, the hero who spent 17 years as their star, most of them as the captain. He is considered a club icon by every Reds supporter around the globe, but this time he comes as the man leading the opposing team. It’ll be up to both sides to put all emotion aside and try and win.

Klopp on Gerrard: “Wonderful story. Stevie will probably have no idea how it will feel when he steps into the stadium. I had it in a similar way first time back at Mainz and back at Dortmund with LFC. I’ve never heard a negative word about Steven Gerrard.”

— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) December 10, 2021

Liverpool

Regardless of the man in the visitors’ dugout, Liverpool should be extremely motivated against this particular opponent, having suffered arguably the most embarrassing defeat of the era under Jurgen Klopp at their hands last season at Villa Park. Quite apart from that, every point is vital for their ambition to win the title again.

As it stands, Liverpool are in second place at the moment with 34 points, one less than title defenders Manchester City at the top and one more than Champions League holders Chelsea in third.

The Merseysiders have been on fine form lately. The defeat away to West Ham, the only they’ve endured this season in any competition so far, is now far away, and they won all of their last six matches. The run starts with a 4-0 home triumph over Arsenal. Then they beat FC Porto in the Champions League, also at home, by 2-0. Then Southampton came to Anfield and suffered the same result as Arsenal. They beat city rivals Everton away in the Merseyside Derby by 1-4, Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux by 0-1, and eventually, AC Milan at San Siro by 1-2 earlier this week.

It was a heavily rotated side that took on the Rossoneri due to the fact that Liverpool had already secured the top spot in their group. Nonetheless, after former Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori broke the deadlock after 28 minutes, Mohamed Salah equalized in the 36th and Divock Origi, the hero of the win over Wolves a few days earlier, snatched the win for his team in the 55th, condemning the seven-time European champions to playing domestic football for the rest of the season.

Team News

Liverpool have had a number of injury problems recently, but the players in question have started coming back into the fold and Klopp will be pleased about that. Midfielder Naby Keita and defender Joe Gomez have returned fully and even came on from the bench in Milan. Forward Roberto Firmino is back in training after missing several weeks with a hamstring injury, but Diogo Jota is a doubt after suffering a knock against his old club, Wolves, and he faces a late check before a decision on his involvement is made.

Nathaniel Phillips, praised immensely for his performance against Milan, will be out for four or five weeks, says Klopp, having fractured a cheekbone.

Origi didn’t train on Thursday, but Klopp explained that he had given the Belgian striker a day off to recover, and he should be ready to play on Saturday.

Alisson Becker will be in goal, there’s no question about the Brazilian starting a Premier League match when fit. The same goes for Virgil van Dijk in defence, where the Dutch centre-back should be joined by Joel Matip. Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold are set to return to the defensive flanks. Fabinho and Jordan Henderson are likely to be in midfield, but the third spot seems to be up for grabs at the moment. Thiago Alacantara and Keita are the main contenders, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been playing very well lately too. Youngsters Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott aren’t back from an eye and an ankle injury, respectively.

Salah and Sadio Mane both started against Milan, but they were both substituted just after the hour-mark and should be fine to be in the lineup again. With Jota a doubt, Firmino could return to the XI. If neither is deemed ready for the full 90 minutes, it should be between Origi and Takumi Minamino.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa invested significant funds into their team during the last couple of transfer windows, though the overall impression of them strengthening was marred by the departure of Jack Grealish, their arguably best player in recent years, to Manchester City at the end of this summer. Still, you don’t get £100 million for one player every day, do you?

Their season started decently enough, not great, but not too bad either. However, a run of five defeats in a row starting in early October and ending in early November eventually caused the club to part ways with Dean Smith and prize Gerrard away from Rangers to take his place. The former Liverpool and England captain has managed to stabilize the team to an extent, with every player obviously keen to prove himself in his eyes.

Villa’s last six matches include a 1-4 defeat at home to West Ham, followed by another, 1-0 away to Southampton, which was Smith’s last game in charge. The Gerrard era began with a 2-0 triumph at home over Brighton and Hove Albion. Then came a 1-2 win away to Crystal Palace, a 1-2 defeat at home against Manchester City, and a 2-1 win at home over Leicester City, led by Gerrard’s former manager at Liverpool and subsequent rival in Scotland, Brendan Rodgers.

Villa are 10th in the league table at the moment, with the same number of points (19) as the Foxes in 11th. They will be pleased about the fact that they are closer to West Ham in fourth place with 27 points, than Burnley, Newcastle and Norwich City, who form the relegation zone with 10 points each.

Team News

Gerrard has a number of injury problems which severely limit his attacking options. Leon Bailey, Bertrand Traore (both hamstring) and Trezeguet (lacking match fitness), will all miss the Anfield trip.

However, former Liverpool striker Danny Ings could be back after a hamstring problem, as could left-back Matt Targett. Midfielder Morgan Sanson is also set to be assessed, having returned to training after being ill.

Argentina international Emiliano Martinez should be between the posts, with Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa standing in front. Matty Cash is set to be on the right defensive flank, and if Targett isn’t ready, it’ll be former Manchester United man Ashley Young on the left. Marvelous Nakamba and Douglas Luiz should provide protection to the back four, with John McGinn joining them in the middle of the park. Ollie Watkins will lead the line, most likely supported by Emiliano Buendia and Jacob Ramsey.

Conclusion

There can be no doubt that Gerrard will be able to motivate his team to make life as difficult as possible against his old club, but there is only one favourite to win this contest, and that’s Liverpool. Other outcomes are, of course possible, but anything other than a home win would certainly represent a great surprise.

Martinez will be extremely busy in the Villa goal, and despite his undoubtable quality, he’s likely to be beaten at least three times.

Verdict: Total home goals over 2.5

Best odds: 41/50

Bookmaker: Unibet