Predicted Liverpool line-up for the match against Aston Villa

The Merseyside club welcome Birmingham City to the final game of Saturday’s fixtures in what should be a brilliant match between two managers who have made a fantastic start to this season’s campaign.

Arne Slot started his Liverpool career as head coach in historic fashion with sixteen games played, fourteen wins, one loss and one draw. Best start for any manager in their first season in Premier League history: defeating Jose Mourinho and his tenure at Chelsea. Liverpool currently boast a twelve-game unbeaten run and have only drawn once and won eleven games during this period. Their last defeat in all competitions came on 14 September against Nottingham Forest, who currently sit 3rd in the Premier League table, which was the surprise of the season.

Unai Emry also started very well. In a season where many assumed Aston Villa would struggle to return to the UEFA Champions League, the opposite has turned out to be the case. Emry’s side lost just one game in their last European campaign and were top of the competition table until this week. Likewise in the Premier League they have lost only one of their last five league games, the most recent one. They are currently in 6th place.

Liverpool

Liverpool are currently without Alisson Becker (hamstring), Harvey Elliott (foot), Diogo Jota (ribs) and Federico Chiesa (muscle) for this weekend’s match.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa are currently without Matty Cash (Calf) and Ross Barkley (Muscle) for this weekend’s match.

Liverpool – (4-2-3-1)

GK: Caoimhin Kelleher – Kelleher continued his excellent performances in Alisson Becker’s absence, making a superb double save in midweek against Bayer Leverkusen to keep a clean sheet despite not having to do much for most of the game. He will need to be ready and able for this match, with the likes of Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and John Durant always looking to spoil a clean sheet.

RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – Trent has been disappointing the last few games despite being solid defensively and some might argue, refuting the “Trent can’t defend” idiots, his passing, which is supposed to be his main strength, has been well below par. Hopefully he can regain his offensive game as he will have to deal with Jacob Ramsey on the defensive side of the ball.

CB: Ibrahima Konate – Yibou has had an outstanding season, thanks in no small part to Arne Slott, who has gotten the best out of the French defender this season. He was facing a major physical test in midweek against Victor Boniface, the human monster, and Konate seemed anything but phased. Another physical challenge this weekend is facing Ollie Watkins.

CB: Virgil van Dijk – Virgil commanded his penalty area superbly in the last match against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League. He was tasked with commanding his back line against one of the most resourceful strikers in Europe at the moment, Florian Wirtz, who was virtually unplayable for most of the game, making virtually no impact beyond the first twenty minutes. Expect him to make sure both Watkins and Rodgers are equally quiet in this game.

LB: Konstantinos Tsimikas – With Kostas making two very strong starts at left-back and Andy Robertson still trying to get his fitness up to first-team levels, we expect to see the Greek Scouser back in the starting line-up. With each performance it becomes harder and harder for him to shake it off, and until Robbo regains full fitness, it looks like Kostas will lose out in this position.

CDM – Ryan Gravenberch – Ryan Gravenbirch, one of the best ball-carriers and press-resistant players in the Premier League at the moment, is becoming more than just a flash in the pan but a real player. We were simply petrified by his performances. If Ryan Gravenberch had signed this summer instead of last, his plaudits would have been much greater and his performances would have been appreciated.

CDM: Curtis Jones – Curtis has been one of the brightest spots among the bright spots this season. I’ve been one of his biggest critics this season. I have been quoted as saying that the only reason he has still been in the team for so long, despite no noticeable improvement in his game, is because he is a Scouse. How wrong he was this season. What’s even more shocking is that Curtis has scored almost twice as many goals this season, in almost half the minutes that Jude Bellingham has. Yes, I had to Google that too, but it’s true. And given his fantastic midweek results, I think he deserves one more start before heading off to the England squad for his first senior call-up. Well deserved.

DAC: Alexis Mac Allister Having Curtis Jones behind the double pivot will allow Mac Allister to move forward and use his passing ability to better link up our striker. Dominik Szoboszlai is excellent at pressing and working off the ball, but lacks cohesive play between the double pivot and the forwards. This could allow us to further unlock the final phase of the game.

RW: Mohamed Salah – Salah has set the world on fire with his goal scoring and performance this season, scoring eighteen goals in sixteen games. Salah led our attack along with Luis Diaz, who has an equal goal tally. Expect him to have an even bigger impact this weekend.

ST: Darwin Nunes – Darwin has essentially turned into Bobby Firminho this season, with numbers returning on how to press, pass and combine play that are radically different to what the Uruguayan was last season. His efficiency is off the charts in terms of goals scored, which may come as a surprise to some, but his conversion rate this season has more than doubled to 25%, up from just 10.68% last season. Credit must be given to the coaching and system changes as they appear to have contained and controlled the chaos that is Darwin.

LW: Luis Diaz. Lucio, the hat-trick hero, played as number nine against Leverkusen and scored himself two goals from that position and his final goal from the left wing position. This may be the toughest decision to make on the field as both Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz could start this game, but you can’t give up on a man who just scored a hat-trick in his last game, even though how impressive Cody was. all season.

Aston Villa – (4-4-1-1)

Emiliano Martinez; Ezri Konsa; Diego Carlos; Pau Torres; Lucas Digne; John McGinn; Amadou Onana; Yuri Tielemans; Jacob Ramsey; Morgan Rogers; Ollie Watkins

Mohamed Salah – 16 matches, 9 goals, 9 assists

Salah has been the focal point of Liverpool’s attack this season and he has scored and assisted for fun this season. Some might say he will win the Ballon d’Or for his production this year. Expect him to be one of the key contributors to the game tomorrow night, thanks to his chance creation for himself and others, as well as his ability to score a goal out of nowhere.

Ollie Watkins – 14 appearances, 5 goals, 3 assists

While Watkins’ numbers this season don’t necessarily tell the whole story, he remains one of the best strikers in the Premier League. The man scored twenty-seven goals and thirteen assists in all competitions last season. He is a goal scoring machine and can leave at any time. Both Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate will have to stay awake and alert to ensure Watkins has a good night.

Anfield, Liverpool

20:00 GMT

Referee: David Coote. Assistants: Timothy Wood, Craig Taylor. Fourth referee: Sam Ellison. VAR: Paul Tierney. Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis.

Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa