BUILD UP
Aston Villa face Jurgen Klopp and his inform Liverpool side at Anfield in round 16 of the Premier League, in a game that sees Head Coach Steven Gerrard return to his old stomping ground.
Gerrard spent a total of 27 years at the Merseyside club, with the majority of the time spent playing in the academy and for the first team, where he captained his boyhood side in the Premier League for around 12 years, winning numerous trophies and accolades through the seasons.
The former England international also managed the club’s under 18 team for a campaign, between 2017 and 2018, after impressing manager Jurgen Klopp and director of academy Alex Inglethorpe, where the pair highlighted his work ethic, knowledge and attitude towards coaching.
It will naturally be an emotional return for Gerrard, despite the 41 year-old claiming there will be no degree of sentiment on his return to his former club. In the Leicester City post match interview with Sky Sports, the boss went on to say:
Gerrard is clearly downplaying the feelings he will have upon his homecoming, which shows his class and professionalism as an individual, and emphasises just how serious and driven he is to succeed at his new club.
It will be an exciting day for Liverpool fans, who are able to see the man they adored for years and years return to their beloved club. The fans are bound to make the day quite the occasion, and it will be a special experience for everyone involved with The Reds.
Away from all the sentiment and emotion, Steven Gerrard will look to win his fourth game out of a possible five as Aston Villa manager, and will do his upmost to ready his players and send them out with the intent of getting all three points against a world-class Liverpool side that is full of talent all over the field.
It is the battle of two of the manager of the month nominees, as Steven Gerrard faces Jurgen Klopp at Anfield. On a day made for the headlines, let’s hope the claret and blue side will reign supreme and return back to the Midlands with a victory.
TEAM NEWS
Aston Villa will need their strongest side to travel up north and take on their next opponent (Liverpool) , and can expect a couple of players back to fitness, including Matt Targett and Danny Ings.
Targett, who was taken off during the second half of the Manchester City defeat with what appeared to be a head injury, missed last week’s win over Leicester City with Steven Gerrard saying the following in last week’s pre-match press conference:
“Matty Targett will probably struggle for this game, but we’ll make a late decision on him.”
Having been on the verge of selection for the last game, it is expected that the left-back will be available and will make the trip up north for Saturday’s game. Fellow Englishman Danny Ings is also set to make a return to the side after some short time out with a thigh injury which has kept him out of action for the last three games. Gerrard reported the following on Danny Ings pre-Leicester:
Similarly to Targett, the 29-year old striker seemed touch and go in terms of availability for the previous fixture, meaning he should be available for the next.
Leon Bailey will of course miss the game as he continues to recover from the thigh injury picked up against Manchester City. The Jamaican is expected to return before the end of the year, with the aim to get him fit in time for the boxing day fixture against Chelsea or the away affair at Elland Road against Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United.
Trezeguet returned to action in a claret and blue shirt for the first time in eight months as he played 60 minutes in the midweek for the U23 side in a Second-City derby fixture against Birmingham City U23’s. The game finished 3-3 on the night, and the Egyptian winger bagged a goal on his comeback, confidently slotting home a penalty on the 32 minute mark.
Trezeguet is unlikely to start the Liverpool of game of course, but may feature amongs the substitutes, and with Gerrard’s tendency to utilise his vastly competent squad, we could see him make a first-team comeback. What an remarkable moment this would be for Trezeguet, who has worked incredibly hard to recover from such a devastating injury.
Bertrand Traore will miss his eighth consecutive game with the persistent thigh injury that has hindered the 26 year-old’s 21/22 season.
As for this week’s opposition, they can expect to be without star forward Roberto Firmino who has missed Liverpool’s last seven games after sustaining a hamstring injury in a Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid. The Brazilian is set to return back to the side soon, with Klopp saying the following at the end of November:
“Bobby is good but he is still a couple of weeks away from being fully back”
Liverpool will also be without Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliot who both have injuries that have kept them out for a long amount of time. Elliot will miss the remainder of the season after sustaining a broken ankle in a tackle with Leeds United defender Pascal Struijk back in September. Jones was involved in a ‘freak accident’ in training that has left the midfielder with an unusual eye injury, he is expected back soon but the Villa game comes too soon for the 20 year-old.
Other than these three however, Jurgen Klopp will have a full squad to chose from, with the likes of Mohammed Salah, Sadio Mane and Virgil Van Dijk likely to start.
THE OPPONENTS
It goes without saying that Liverpool are one of the best teams in the world, and have certainly come on leaps and bounds since the appointment of manager Jurgen Klopp in 2015. In the six years he has been there, Klopp has won Liverpool their first Premier League title and has led them to two UEFA Champions League finals, winning the second against Tottenham Hotspur during the 18/19 campaign.
Before the introduction of the 54-year old, The Reds, despite coming close to the league title, never looked particularly convincing and had weaknesses that could be exploited. The Stuttgart-born coach has transformed the Merseyside-based side into a real force with a clear identity and assertive style of play that is often devastating for their opponents, making them one of the most feared teams on the planet.
Klopp is renowned for his use of the German ‘Gergenpressing’ style of football which emphasises the use of relentless pressing upon possession loss, highlighting the demand to win the ball back instantly instead of retreating into a deeper shape. This system has worked wonders for The Reds, and makes them difficult to retain possession against, which often leads to the other team clearing the ball long and back into Liverpool’s control.
On the ball Klopp’s team is assertive and enjoys pushing their opponents into a deep shape that typically occupies their defensive third. Full-backs, Trent Alexander Arnold and Andy Robertson have excelled in the side over the years, and the wide pairing see a lot of the ball, and therefore find themselves involved in a vast amount of attacking play, evidenced in their impressive offensive returns from the last few seasons.
A part of the team you simply cannot overlook is that of the front-three who, this season, have looked exceptional, namely Mo Salah who is currently the league’s top goal scorer with an impressive 13 in 15 games played. The Egyptian has been the standout player in the Premier League this year and also achieved 6th place in this year Ballon d’or awards, somewhat lower than many expected. Fellow frontmen Diogo Jota occupies third spot in the race for the Golden Boot, on 8 goals, and the Senegalese Sadio Mane is in fourth on 7 goals.
Captain Jordan Henderson is a staple in the side, and defender Virgil Van Dijk, who narrowly missed out on the 2019 Ballon d’or award, is back from the cruciate ligament injury that ruled him out for a large part of last season, and looks just as solid as he did the seasons before. This Liverpool side is full of talent everywhere you look, but their unitary work and structural know-how is an area of their play that sticks out, and has been an integral component of the club’s success over the last 5-6 years.
The Reds currently sit in 2nd place in the league on 34 points, behind Manchester City by only a single point. Klopp’s side has reciprocated their fine league form into their Champions League campaign, and have won all 6 of their group games ahead of Atletico Madrid, FC Porto and AC Milan. It looks to be another magnificent for the Merseyside club who will be hoping to win their second Premier League title and make it a season to remember by winning a seventh UEFA Champions League trophy.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I think it will be Aston Villa’s toughest game of the season so far as they face the best team in the league (in my opinion). Klopp, with his squad now fully fit, has Liverpool playing similarly to the way they were a couple seasons ago when they won the Premier League title, and with players like Mohammed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota in the form they’re in, the already difficult task of defeating Liverpool is broadened.
With that however, Villa are certainly looking very capable themselves, and brushing the Manchester City result aside, they too are in a good vein of form, beating Crystal Palace, Brighton & Hove Albion and Leicester City within the last few weeks.
The players are learning and therefore improving with each session under the new Head Coach, and will be gradually getting acquainted with the way he wants the team to look and play. This can only be seen as a positive, and definitely excites me, and I’m sure a lot of the fanbase too. We have already seen plenty to be encouraged by and it is likely to only get better.
I have remained positive for every prediction in the match previews, and despite the beast that presents itself in Liverpool, I will continue the forward-thinking attitude and go for a dramatic 3-2 away win, with an Ollie Watkins brace and John McGinn to bag the winner and his fourth of the season.
We know there are goals in the Villa side, especially under Gerrard, and with Liverpool often playing a high-line, the counter-attacks that the Villans initiate will be crucial, and I think if we are efficient and clinical in the final third we can cause Liverpool plenty of problems on the weekend.
Let’s hope the Villa boys are up for it and can go against the odds to bring the three points back to B6.
Up the Villa!
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