Aston Villa v Liverpool – The Premier League Preview
Date – 29th February 2025
Venue – Villa Park
Kick-off – 19.30
After a character-building 2-1 win against Wolves at Anfield on Sunday afternoon, Liverpool will now travel to the midlands where another tough encounter awaits against fellow Champions League competitors, Aston Villa. The gap between themselves and second-placed Arsenal was extended back to seven points with that difficult home win, whilst this upcoming game will see the Reds end the night having played one more game than the Gunners, with a hope that a team point gap will have been attained.
Aston Villa Availability
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery will be without several key players: Pau Torres, Boubacar Kamara, Matty Cash, Amadou Onana, Ezri Konsa and Ross Barkley are all out, whereas Leon Bailey faces a late fitness test.
In terms of recent form, Villa drew 1-1 at home to Ipswich following a 2-1 win over Tottenham in the FA Cup fourth round. A 0-2 loss away to Wolves came after the Villans beat Celtic 4-0 in the final game of their successful Champions League group stage.
After 25 matches in the top tier, 38 points have been accumulated leading to a 9th place standing in the current table for the hosting club.
The predicted lineup for Aston Villa, using a 4-2-3-1 formation, is as follows: Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins will be the powerful entities that will be tasked with disrupting the Liverpool backline, whereas recent loan signing, Marcus Rashford, may be asked to attack fellow England international, Trent Alexander Arnold.
GK – Emiliano MartÃnez
RB – Andrés GarcÃa
RCB – Axel Disasi
LCB – Tyrone Mings
LB – Lucas Digne
CM – Youri Tielemans
CM – John McGinn
ACM – Morgan Rogers
RW – Marco Asensio
CF – Ollie Watkins
LW – Marcus Rashford
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Liverpool Availability
Liverpool will be without Joe Gomez who has sustained a hamstring injury, one that could keep him sidelined for much of the remainder of the season. Tyler Morton is injured for an undetermined period and Cody Gakpo is a doubt for this game after missing the last outing.
Before the 2-1 home win against Aston Villa and the controversial 2-2 draw at Everton, the Reds much rotated team lost 1-0 away to Plymouth, as they crashed out of the FA Cup. With 25 matches played, Liverpool currently tops the Premier League standings with an impressive 60 points.
Here is the expected lineup that Arne Slot will field for this away match against the Midlands Giants.
– GK: Alisson Becker
– RB: Trent Alexander Arnold
РRCB: Ibrahima Konat̩
– LCB: Virgil van Dijk (c)
– LB: Kostas Tsimikas
– CM: Ryan Gravenberch
– ACM: Dominik Szoboszlai
– CM: Alexis Mac Allister
– RF: Mohamed Salah
– CF: Diogo Jota
– LF: Luis DÃaz
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How Will This Contest Play Out?
Liverpool is expected to field the strongest possible eleven, with a desire to overcome a team plagued by injuries. Substitutes will be key components for the visiting team, with Curtis Jones primed to make a return to the squad following his one-game suspension. A tough game is expected, however, the lack of power in Villa’s midfield double pivot may not offer enough protection for an unfamiliar centre-back partnership behind them. The control and ability of the away side should see them win in a tight encounter.
Player to Watch: Alexis Mac Allister Â
Steven Smith’s Score Prediction:
Aston Villa 1 – 2 Liverpool
