Anfield - Liverpool will be hosting on 18 January 2014, an English Premier League, Round 22 match between Liverpool FC and Aston Villa. The match referee will be Jonathan Moss.
Liverpool team enter the late game of week 22 in 4th place but will need to
push on with positive results if they hope to fend off rivals Everton
for next year's Champions League. 3 wins in a row in all competitions
has Liverpool back on track after a tough stretch of road trips to Man
City and Chelsea. Anfield has become a fortress for the Reds this year
where they've lost just one game to Southampton early on. Furthermore,
Brendon Rodgers' side have now won 8 games in a row at home in all
competitions, 7 of those coming in the Premier League by a total tally
of 25 goals scored to just 5 goals conceded. Last week's return of
Daniel Sturridge saw the SAS combination restored, and one suspects the 5
goals scored at the Britannia Stadium was of direct consequence to his
comeback. Expect the strike parternship to carry on for more goals this
Saturday, temporarily covering up Liverpool's need for defensive
reinforcements.
Aston Villa haven't been in the richest vein of form lately, but they
do sit in 11th place in the league table. A home loss against Arsenal
last weekend was expected, but the Villains can take out a few
positives. Top playmaker Christian Benteke got his first goal in nearly
four months, perhaps igniting the young Belgian's confidence around
goal. Also, the Villains demonstrated that they are up for a fight, not
hanging their heads after going down 2-0 rather quickly to the
league-leaders. Paul Lambert has his hands full as his squad's absentee
list lengthens (seen below). Aston Villa are capable of putting in a top
quality shift, and perhaps with Liverpool's recently leaky defence,
they can nab a goal and keep this one interesting. But as far as the
final result goes, back the home side.
