Liverpool will take on Aston Villa this Saturday in the Premier League and will hope to extend their lead at the top of the table.
With Liverpool’s rivals Manchester City and Arsenal facing tough away trips this weekend, Arne Slot’s side have a good chance to extend their lead. The Reds were in fine form this past Tuesday when they put four past Bayer Leverkusen. They will be confident against an Aston Villa side who are in a bit of a rut right now.
Unai Emery’s side were beaten 1-0 by Club Brugge in the Champions League, but their performance was far worse than the scoreline suggests. The loss to the Belgian side made it four games without a win, and they need to bounce back quickly to avoid falling too far behind in the race for the top four.
Liverpool Team News
The Reds will be without the quartet of Alisson Becker, Federico Chiesa, Harvey Elliot, and Diogo Jota for the game.
Jota picked up a freak injury against Chelsea and has missed the last five games. Slot confirmed that the Portuguese will likely return in December.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup vs Aston Villa
Goalkeeper and defence
Caoimhin Kelleher is expected to keep his place in goal with Alisson ruled out. The 25-year-old has made some clutch saves in recent games and has stepped up in Alisson’s absence.
A hat-trick for Stevie in a 5-0 #LIVAVL win in ’09 💪 pic.twitter.com/2Vk2riFrjv
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 8, 2024
Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate are expected to start at the heart of the defence. Kostas Tsimikas started the game against Leverkusen, so we could see Andy Robertson return to the Liverpool lineup.
Also read: Predicted Aston Villa Lineup vs Liverpool
Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to continue at right-back. It’s up to Slot to decide if the England international has featured in too many games and it’s time to give him a rest ahead of the international break and play Conon Bradley instead.
Midfield
Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis MacAllister have been constants in the midfield and the duo are expected to start once again.
Curtis Jones was in fine form against Leverkusen and played a sumptuous pass for Diaz’s opener. The midfielder has been rewarded with an England call-up and it would be a surprise if he doesn’t retain his place ahead of Dominic Szoboszlai.
Attack
Diaz played a central role against Leverkusen and exceeded expectations with his performance. The Colombian timed his runs well and dropped deep to pick up the ball and drive at the Leverkusen defence.
We expect Diaz to revert to his role on the left wing, with Darwin Nunez returning to the Liverpool lineup and take his position as centre forward.
Mohamed Salah is expected to start on the right wing. The Egyptian will hope to add to his tally of seven Premier League goals.
