Liverpool aims to maintain their hunt for the top four places with a win against European place-chasing Aston Villa in the last game at Anfield this season.
LIV vs AVL Match Details
Date: Saturday, 20 May 2023
Time: 15:00 (BST), 19:30 (IST)
Venue: Anfield, Liverpool
LIV vs AVL Match Preview
Liverpool once look down and out of the European football race having never looked like a title contender all season. Amid various reasons for their downfall, the Reds have once again made a miraculous late gallop to rescue their miserable season like they did two years ago. The Reds picked up a 3-0 victory away at Leicester in their last game to make it seven wins on the spin in the Premier League and not losing since the start of April. In scoring form, Curtis Jones bagged a first-half brace a before Trent Alexander-Arnold rifled in from a free-kick for the win with Mohamed Salah registering a hat trick of assists. They are placed in the fifth position on the back of that incredible run and will secure Europa League football with one more win before the final round of games. However, the Champions League is on the agenda for Jurgen Klopp’s men who will be without their German boss for his touchline ban in the remaining games this season. Arch-rivals Manchester United holds the fourth spot with a point lead over them and a game in hand. With Newcastle also only three points away from securing a top-four spot, pipping any of them for a Champions League spot could be difficult as they face the challenge of Aston Villa next in the final home match of the campaign at Anfield. Liverpool are unbeaten in the last 11 home matches in the Premier League and have not lost since 2014/15 in their last league match at Anfield of a campaign. With three successive clean sheets under the belt, the Reds are hoping for another positive result before facing Championship-heading Southampton next weekend to end the campaign.
The 2-1 success for Aston Villa at Villa Park over Tottenham Hotspurs last weekend gets them closer to a European spot in the Premier League table and continues to add to the value of the incredible period the club has experienced since Unai Emery took charge. Multiple Europa League title winner, the Spaniard is building that mentality in the English club in his second Premier League stint. Stuttering a little bit with back-to-back losses to Manchester United and then the Black County derby to Wolves in both away games, Villa returned to winning ways with Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz finding the back of the net in the crucial clash. Harry Kane scored a controversial spot-kick at the very end of the game otherwise Villa would have enjoyed a fourth straight clean sheet at home. With Brighton also slipping against Newcastle despite having a game in hand, the side from Birmingham have a great chance to overtake Spurs on sixth by getting past Liverpool in another huge fixture. The Reds are two places above them with a seven-point lead but it is the final Europa League place that Aston Villa eyes. It will be a remarkable achievement if they do so but taking on the Reds in their magnificent form and then Brighton, their rivals for the European football places, in the final two games of the season will be a test like no other. Villa have not won at Anfield in the league since Boxing Day in 2014 and aside from a freakish 7-2 victory in 2020, not won in 10 meetings. Emery’s team are winless in their last three away matches in the league as well so it will be a huge performance to stop the winning chariot of the Reds.
Recent Form (Premier League)
LIV: WWWWW
AVL: WLLWD
LIV vs AVL Team News
The club announced this week that Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner will all depart Liverpool at the end of the season. The four are set to receive a warm send-off in the last game at Anfield from the home crowd. The Brazilian can feature after recovering from a muscle injury but Keita is set to miss out with the same problem. Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic and Calvin Ramsay remain out with their respective injuries for the long term.
A former Red, Philippe Coutinho is missing out on the trip to Anfield and the rest of the season with a muscle injury joining Jed Steer (ACL) on the sidelines. Callum Chambers has a fever and is a doubt for the clash. Matty Cash has returned to the squad following his injury spell but Emery is unlikely to tinker with his winning eleven from last weekend.
LIV vs AVL Predicted Lineups
LIV: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Van Dijk, Andrew Robertson; Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Curtis Jones; Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz
AVL: Emiliano Martinez; Ashley Young, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Alex Moreno; John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey; Emiliano Buendia, Ollie Watkins
LIV vs AVL Head to head
LIV won - 101
Drawn - 40
AVL won - 59
(In overall meetings)
LIV vs AVL Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Becker (7.5)
DEF: Trent (9), Van Dijk (8.5), Robertson (8)
MID: McGinn (7), Luiz (8.5), Jones (7.5), Ramsey (7.5)
FW: Salah (9), Watkins (9), Gakpo (8.5)
Vice-captain: Alexander-Arnold
Captain: Mo Salah
