Next Monday evening, the second leg of the English Premier League kicks off at Villa Park. On matchday 17, Aston Villa, currently 12th in the table, will welcome Liverpool, who are 6th in the table. Both teams urgently need the points, even if the visitors will feel the greater pressure. In the championship race, Klopp’s team has clearly lost out in the current first half of the season, which is why league leaders Arsenal already have a 15-point lead. Now it is time to start the race to catch up in the direction of the Champions League and save the season. The Villans, on the other hand, have recently been able to record important victories and start their advance up the table.
Aston Villa vs. FC Liverpool: The starting position
- Form Aston Villa: 3 wins and 2 defeats from the last 5 games
- Liverpool form: 1 defeat and most recently 4 wins in a row from the last 5 games
- Favourites: According to the bookmakers, Liverpool are the clear favourites.
In the direct comparison, the roles are clearly distributed after the World Cup break. The visitors have almost twice the squad value, while the Reds have also won the past 4 encounters. The last 3 games ended with a narrow one-goal lead in favour of Klopp’s team. Nevertheless, the Villans were able to achieve a brilliant 7:2 success against the boys from Anfield Road in October 2020. This does not change the fact that the bookmakers recognise Liverpool FC as clear favourites to win.
Aston Villa – Making a flying start
The first half of the season could hardly have been worse for the Villans, which is why they ultimately had to part ways with head coach Steven Gerard. Aston Villa spent a long time in a relegation spot before Unai Emery made his debut as the new head coach on 1 November. Since then, the Villans have won their last two Premier League games against Manchester United (3:1) and Brighton (1:2) to climb to 12th place in the table.
Now, in the second half of the season, Liverpool FC and Tottenham are two top matches within 6 days. As a result, Emery’s team has to maintain its strong performance from the first half of the season and shock the Reds as early as possible. In the last weeks before the World Cup, the Reds had big problems with clearly weaker opponents, which gives the Villans hope to continue their winning streak.
Liverpool FC – Don’t allow a slip-up and continue their winning streak
For Jürgen Klopp’s team, the current first half of the season could hardly have got off to a worse start. The visitors had to bow out of the championship race early on, while Arsenal already have a 15-point lead. The 7th place in the table is considered to be clearly too low, which is why the top flight ranks have to be reached quickly. After surprising defeats against Nottingham (1:0) and Leeds United (1:2) in the last weeks before the World Cup break, the Reds must not allow themselves any further slip-ups in the upcoming duels.
In addition, they have to face Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16, which is why an early elimination is imminent there as well. The visitors are clearly superior in terms of play, which is why Darwin Nunez and Co. will be at their best. The match should be decided as early as possible, because Leicester City, a strong opponent, is already waiting in 4 days. In any case, the chances of 6 points are immensely good.
Betting tip & prediction: Aston Villa – Liverpool FC (26.12.2022)
Our expert tip for Aston Villa vs. Liverpool FC is a win for the Reds. Jürgen Klopp’s team managed to catch themselves in the last weeks and months before the World Cup break, winning 8 of their last 10 games. In the wake of this, we expect them to continue their streak of 4 wins in a row. We are betting on Liverpool FC to win the match, for which we are offering odds of 8/11 at STS.
Betting tip: “Reds end Villans streak and hand Emery first defeat”.
Both teams were in goal-scoring mood before the World Cup break, which is why we expect a high-scoring encounter. As a result, we are betting on over 3.5 goals at STS with odds of 6/4. Furthermore, we assume that both teams will score. Consequently, we bet on both teams to score with STS odds of 4/6 on yes.