English Premier League: Aston Villa vs. Liverpool Preview, Odds, Prediction

The game between Aston Villa and Liverpool could be the most interesting one of the entire EPL round 17. It takes place at Villa Park in Birmingham next Monday, and it features two former European champions. Aston Villa is struggling to find its form and relies upon home games, with the Villains winning most of their points at Villa Park. Meanwhile, L’Pool is terrible on the road in the English Premier League, posting just one victory throughout the season so far.

Preview

Aston Villa (+350) sits 12th in the EPL after 15 rounds, having five wins, three draws, and seven defeats, with a negative goal difference 16-22. They have the World Cup winner, Emiliano Martinez, in front of the goal, who has been pretty good throughout the year so far, but simply, Villa’s back line isn’t up to the task.

After analyzing the stats, we found out that Villa’s performances at home are much better than on the road, with this team winning four of seven games in Birmingham, with one draw and two defeats.

The big problem for this crew is the inconsistency in the midfield, and one of the biggest reasons for that was Philippe Coutinho’s injury and his poor performances prior to that. The Brazilian was supposed to be the leader of the crew, yet that didn’t happen.

Liverpool (-120) is the biggest disappointment of the year, sitting sixth right now, far behind the top team in the standings, Arsenal. For the moment, the Reds have 15 points fewer than the leaders, which means that the title race is over for Jurgen Klopp’s unit.

The good thing for this crew is that they had time to regroup and boost their morale due to the World Cup pause, with Mohamed Salah skipping the event and resting for a while. All of their players ended the adventure in Qatar pretty fast, so the Reds had enough time to turn the leaf and start fresh.

Klopp’s team has just one victory away from Anfield in the EPL, which is a disaster, and overall, they have been pretty unstable on the road in all the competitions. The defense has been particularly problematic, with just two clean sheets during that period.

Latest News

Coutinho is out for the hosts, and he is Villa’s only player who won’t be in the protocol for this event.

Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Arthur are all injured for the Reds.

Head to Head Games

The previous meeting was in May this year, and Liverpool won that one 1-2. It was the fourth consecutive win for the team from Anfield, following the famous 7-2 loss they suffered back in October 2020.

Prediction

The Reds are the favorites, and we do believe they have a better team than Aston Villa. With all due respect towards the hosts, even with the crowd behind them, the difference in quality here is way too big. Liverpool is after a fresh start, with this being probably the most crucial game of the year for them. Jurgen Klopp is aware that a win here could turn the season for his unit, and so are the players.

Pick: Liverpool -120