Liverpool vs Aston Villa Preview, Team News, Starting Line-Ups, Key Man & Prediction

Liverpool entertain Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday evening hoping to cement their position in the top four of the Premier League.

The Reds won an eight-goal thriller away at Stoke last Sunday, with Daniel Sturridge returning to score one and set up another in a 5-3 victory, with the win seeing the Merseysiders head into the weekend action sitting fourth.

However, they are just a single point above rivals Everton, so will want to ensure they at least maintain that gap with a win tomorrow night.

Brendan Rodgers men have a superb record at home this season, winning 10 of their 11 matches so far with Southampton the only side to take anything away from Anfield, so they should be confident of securing all three points this weekend.

They will face a Villa side who have won just once in their last seven outings and lost 2-1 to leaders Arsenal last time out to leave them sitting 11th in the table.

While it may sound like the Midlanders are relatively safe, they are in fact just five points off the relegation zone, so Paul Lambert will be desperate to pick up a positive result tomorrow to avoid getting dragged into the dog fight.

Team News

As mentioned, Daniel Sturridge is back after a seven week injury lay off and is expected to start tomorrow with Raheem Sterling likely to be the man to make way.

Mamadou Sakho is also in contention having returned to training this week and he could come straight back in to defence with Kolo Toure dropping out.

Midfielder Joe Allen is fit again but may have to make do with a place on the bench, while Jon Flanagan and Jose Enrique remain injured so Aly Cissokho will once again fill in at left-back. Daniel Agger has been ruled out for another three weeks with a calf injury.

Villa will be without defender Nathan Baker after he was forced off with concussion against Arsenal on Monday.

Grant Holt could feature after completing his move from Wigan this week but Paul Lambert is likely to stick with Christian Benteke up front after the Belgian ended his goal drought against the Gunners.

Likely Line-Ups

Key Man

Luis Suarez: The Uruguayan was instrumental once again during Liverpool’s win at Stoke and he’ll certainly be the player Villa will have to watch tomorrow. I don’t fancy their chances though!

Predicted Score

Liverpool 3-1 Aston Villa: Villa won this fixture last season but the Reds are a far better outfit this time around and we can see them winning this game.

What team would you like to see start and what’s your predicted score? Share your views below.