Liverpool vs Aston Villa Preview

January 18, 2014
By: Deke Hardman

Suarez

Saturday afternoon’s Premier League action concludes at Anfield where top-four challengers Liverpool take on an Aston Villa side hoping to break into the top half of the table.

Having ended 2013 with defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea, Brendan Rodgers’ side are aiming for their third straight victory.

The survived a scare at the Britannia Stadium last weekend, eventually beating Stoke City by five goals to three, with top scorer Luis Suarez grabbing another brace, and Daniel Sturridge netting on his return from injury.

The England international is expected to start for the first time since the 4-0 win over Fulham on November 9th, while Joe Allen and Mamadou Sakho are expected to return to the match day squad after they were both side-lined for the last three matches.

Unsurprisingly, Suarez is favourite to open the scoring, with Coral offering odds of 3.25 (9/4), while Sturridge, who scored the winner at Villa Park back in August, is a 4.5 (7/2) chance with Paddy Power.

Steven Gerrard has scored more times against Villa than any other side in the Premier League, and netted in both games against them last season. He is widely available at 9.0 (8/1) to get the first goal of the game and 4.0 (3/1) with Betfred to score at any time.

The home win is priced at 1.25 (1/4) with a variety of companies, with the visitors a 16.0 (15/1) chance with Bet 365, who offer 7.5 (13/2) for the draw.

Paul Lambert’s men currently sit in eleventh place, joint on points with Hull City who are one position above them though they are just five points off the bottom three.

Their loss at home to Arsenal on Monday evening was their fifth in seven league games, though just three of their ten defeats in total have come on the road.

They have taken fifteen points from their ten away games so far this season – the same amount as Liverpool, who are seven places above them have in their eleven matches away from home.

New loan signings Grant Holt and Ryan Bertrand could both make their debuts, though Nathan Baker will miss out after suffering concussion last time out.

Holt is generously priced at 17.0 (16/1) to score first, while Christian Benteke is 13.0 (12/1) with Ladbrokes having finally ended his four month goal drought five days ago.

Villa have lost just one of their last four matches at Anfield, though the Reds have won all but one of their league games in front of their home fans so far this season.

Four of Liverpool’s last six home wins have been by three of more goals, and that outcome this time around can be backed at 2.38 (11/8) with Sky Bet.

Alternatively, Luis Suarez is priced at 2.75 (7/4) with Coral to score at least twice in the game.

Of the twelve games where the Uruguay international has scored since returning from his suspension, he has bagged two or more in eight of them.

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