Aston Villa at Liverpool: Prediction and Preview

Can Liverpool keep up their winning streak against Aston Villa after maintaining it with an incredible comeback victory over Newcastle United? With our prediction and preview for Liverpool vs. Aston Villa, we take a look ahead to the game on Sunday at Anfield.

Aston Villa vs. Liverpool: The Quick Hits
The Opta Supercomputer gives Liverpool a 60.1% chance of defeating Aston Villa, predicting that they will improve on their dramatic triumph at St. James’ Park.

The Reds have prevailed over Villa in nine out of their past eleven Premier League encounters; the two losses came by scores of 7-2 at Villa Park in October 2020 and 1-1 at Anfield in May.
In ten straight home Premier League games, Mohamed Salah has either scored or provided an assist.

In-Game Preview
Monsters from Jürgen Klopp’s psyche are back.With the Reds playing with 10 men and trailing Bournemouth and Newcastle United early in the Premier League season, things could have gone very differently. They remain unbeaten, though, and some have predicted that they will challenge Manchester City, the current champions, in their matchup on Sunday against Aston Villa.Last season, Liverpool was erratic and disjointed, but the reformed Reds have no sense of defeat. After overcoming Alexis Mac Allister’s harsh punishment to defeat Bournemouth on Matchday 2, Virgil van Dijk’s red card on Tyneside put them in much more trouble. Darwin Nez, a replacement, scored two late goals for Liverpool, including the 42nd game-winning goal in Premier League history.

Nez will be hoping that his cameo last week will get him his first season start against Villa. The Uruguayan has started 2023–24 behind Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Luis Daz, and Diogo Jota in Liverpool’s starting lineup. He scored nine league goals last season. Nez, however, has averaged more shots (4.6) and shots on target (2.0) per 90 minutes than any other player in the Premier League since the beginning of last season (minimum 500 minutes played).

If Nez is selected to play, he will be hoping for more assists from Salah, who set up last week’s winning goal with a lovely through ball. Salah has made nine Premier League outings in which he has either scored or assisted (four goals, seven assists overall), but the Egyptian has saved his best play for Anfield.

The last player to experience a longer such streak was Arsenal star Thierry Henry, who scored or assisted in 17 successive games at Highbury between November 2002 and October 2003. He has been involved in goals in 10 straight home Premier League games.

With Van Dijk out, the Liverpool defence will need to make at least one adjustment. Liverpool have won just 52.2% of their matches since the Dutchman’s 2018 arrival.

The UEFA Champions League will be Liverpool’s main goal for 2023–24, although Aston Villa has also been predicted to contend for European qualification after making significant additions in the transfer market and earning six points in their first three games.

Since their opening-weekend 5-1 loss to Newcastle, Unai Emery’s team has rebounded remarkably well, defeating Everton 4-0 before triumphing 3-1 at Burnley last Sunday. Since Queens Park Rangers in 1986–1987, they are the first top-flight team to lose their first game by four goals or more before winning their following two.

At Turf Moor, right-back Matty Cash scored twice, with his second goal capping a 19-pass move by Villa that set a team record for the Premier League since Opta records were kept.

The former Bayer Leverkusen winger has scored in both of his first two away Premier League matches after scoring last week. Erling Haaland is the most recent player to score in the competition’s first three road games, making him only the sixth player to do so.

At Turf Moor, Galatasaray loanee Nicol Zaniolo made his Premier League debut for Villa, and he might play again at Anfield. FIFA World Cup winner Emiliano Martnez should return in goal after missing Burnley’s victory du ae to minor injury, even though Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Buenda are long-term absences.