Liverpool will host Aston Villa this weekend in an important Premier League match. Having suffered four straight defeats this season, Liverpool’s form is now classified as the worst in years and this has put them under pressure.
One of Liverpool’s most humiliating defeats came in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, where Crystal Palace stunned them with a commanding 3-0 victory. In contrast, Aston Villa have shown far better form in recent weeks.
Despite the season starting on a slow note, Villa succeeded in turning things around and are now on a winning streak. Their confidence and attacking power has indeed been elevated.
Softfootball reported how Aston Villa slammed Manchester City with a 1-0 defeat which was Man City’s first Premier League defeat since August.
Liverpool’s problems seem to lie in their unstable defence and inconsistent performances. They have let in a lot of goals and struggled with keeping clean sheets. Issues like injuries have also disturbed like normal rhythm, tight schedule.
To get a positive turn around, they’ll need key players like Mohammed Salah and other attacking stars together with defenders who are well rested or recovering. Aston Villa’s energy and freedom makes them a big threat.
Their recent records are evidence of their attacking power and confidence. They might not be so perfect but they can feed off Liverpool’s current vulnerable state.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of Saturday’s Premier League match which was shared in club’s official X handle, Arne Slot talked about injuries, form and his team’s mentality.
On managing the tight schedule and injuries concerns, Slot said,
Just handling the situation as it is. Let me use Alex [Isak] as an example — he had to do his pre-season inside the season… if I don’t play him, I don’t have him available, because otherwise I have to play Hugo [Ekitike] every single game.
We have still more than enough good players available to play the game on Saturday, to play the game on Tuesday and to play the game on Sunday. But I have to take care of a few of them.
On the factors that would help Liverpool get back on track after the defeat, he said:
The thing that gives me the most confidence is the quality of the players we have and the amount of chances these players are still creating. This will eventually always lead to these players scoring more goals than we’ve done until now.
He addressed the confidence within the team, saying:
It’s never helpful if you end a game of football against Manchester United with conceding a set-piece and you start another one at Brentford in the Premier League and you concede after five minutes from a throw-in, from a set-piece. I’m not 100 per cent sure if I’m correct, we had to defend 16 set-pieces and 15 we defended well.
When he was asked whether he would change to a more defensive style, Slot was firm in his reply, saying:
I don’t see us conceding a lot of chances, so I don’t see a reason to change our playing style completely, but we need to do better in not conceding goals, that is for sure.
Watch the Press interview below:
In a press conference ahead of the match which was shared in Aston Villa’s official X handle, Aston Villa manager, Unai Emery expressed positivity and praised the recent progress of his team. He also talked about the challenges they may face.
Reflecting on Villa’s strong turnaround this season, Emery said,
It’s also a sign that it is better to do it the way they did it than the way we did it! If you don’t win in the beginning, people are like, ‘Maybe they don’t have the same team as last season’ or whatever and then they start to win and everything is very positive again.
He gave credit to his team’s impressive strong form, saying,
The performances collectively and how we are increasing and getting more points than we achieved in the first part of the season is very important. It means the players and our performance tactically is becoming better.
When asked about the progress of Matty Cash, he replied,
Cash is usually showing his emotions clearly, and he’s a very good guy. As a man, he’s fantastic and as a player, he’s progressing very well.
Furthermore, he emphasized on his team’s work ethic and the dangers of slacking,
We increased our demands in the training sessions and in meetings.
Progressively we are getting better. Now is the moment we have one problem if we are relaxing because we are performing better we can get confused.
In anticipation of the match against Liverpool, he said in conclusion,
I have massive respect for them. They can have some moments where they’re not getting good results, but the coach showed last year his capacity and experience.
Watch below:
Team News
On Liverpool’s side, Alisson Becker won’t be available because of a hamstring injury. Jeremie Frimpong is dealing with a recurring hamstring problem so he’s out. Giovanni Leoni is also injured.
Ryan Gravenberch is back to full training and could return to the squad.
For Aston Villa,
Emiliano Buendía has an ankle injury and won’t be playing. Youri Tielemans has injury concerns too. Harvey Elliott won’t be able to play against his parent club because he is on loan from Liverpool.
Possible Lineups
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Giorgi Mamardashvili; Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez; Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister; Mohamed Salah, Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo; Hugo Ekitiké.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Emiliano Martínez; Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne; Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana; Morgan Rogers, John McGinn, Evann Guessand; Ollie Watkins.
Prediction
There could be a narrow 2-1 win from Liverpool but Villa are prepared to make the match a tough one.
Liverpool 2-1 Aston Villa
