With the return of Premier League football finally upon on us after an eventful international break, Liverpool face Aston Villa in Saturday's evening kick-off, knowing that a win is of the essence to spring the side into the top 4 and add confidence to the side due to appear in the Champions League this coming Tuesday. Villa, on the other hand, begin what many deem to be an "impossible" month, with fixtures against The Reds, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Everton to come. Therefore, Paul Lambert will be looking to attain at least a point at Anfield, and use that as a catalyst to spark a run of form against the "big boys".
The big team news is that Mario Balotelli looks set to start in place of Daniel Sturridge, who was injured on international duty and looks set to be out for up to 3 weeks. Boss Brendan Rodgers expressed his anger at Sturridge's injury, quoted as saying "It could be up to three weeks, which is obviously disappointing as I think it could have been an injury which could have been avoided. The disappointment for us is it would have been a recovery day (not training) for him so for him to pick up a thigh injury when he did was something which was disappointing for us.
"Those types of players you have to recover individually, you can't throw a blanket over them and think one recovery fits everyone. Hopefully we can communicate in the future more. We have lost a player who was outstanding in his last game against Tottenham and we certainly feel it could have been prevented.”
Emre Can was also injured on international duty with the Germany U-21's, and his return date looks to be up to 6 weeks away. Flanagan, Skrtel and Johnson are the other players currently sidelined by injury for the Reds. Adam Lallana could be in line to make his Liverpool debut after recovering from a pre-season knee injury.
As for Aston Villa, new loan signing Tom Cleverley could well make his first appearance in Claret 'N' Blue, while skipper Ron Vlaar is doubtful for the clash. Attackers Christian Benteke and Libor Kozak remain long-term absentees.
Past three meetings:
Liverpool 2 (Sturridge, Gerrard) Aston Villa 2 (Weimann Benteke), Premier League, January 2014
Aston Villa 0 Liverpool 1 (Sturridge), FA Cup, August 2013
Aston Villa 1 (Benteke) Liverpool 2 (Henderson, Gerrard), Premier League, March 2013
Prediction:
Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa
While many feel the Reds should do enough to secure a home victory, Villa will push them all the way. Expect stand-out performances from new England international Fabian Delph and industrious Liverpool midfielder and Delph's English partner Jordan Henderson, in what will be a key battle throughout the clash.
