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Aston Villa – Liverpool FC
Just days after the final of the 2022 World Cup, the Premier League is already back in action. The battle for the championship could possibly go down to the wire again this year, although Liverpool FC are not involved for once. After a disappointing first half of the season, the Reds are only in sixth place and will have the clear goal for the second part of the season of at least qualifying for the Champions League by finishing in the top four. Jürgen Klopp’s team recently recorded two wins in a row, and they will be looking for another win at Aston Villa, who are twelfth in the table, on Monday at 6:30 pm.
The matchday immediately after Christmas is known on the island as ‘Boxing Day’ and Liverpool FC have always been successful on this weekend in recent years. The Reds have won all of their last five Premier League games on Boxing Day with a goal difference of 15-0. However, Christmas dinner has also been good to Aston Villa in recent years. The Lions have won four of their last six Boxing Day games. However, last season they lost 3-1 to Chelsea FC on the day.
Aston Villa – Liverpool info:
– Date & Time: 26/12/2022, 18:30.
– Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham
– Competition: Premier League, Matchday 17
– TV coverage: Sky
Aston Villa Form & Balance Check
Aston Villa have finished eleventh and 14th in the Premier League the last two seasons and are heading for a mid-table finish again this year. Until a few matchdays ago, however, things looked different. Only since Unai Emery took over as coach at the end of October have performances and results started to improve. After just two wins from their first eleven games, Aston Villa have won three of their first four league games under the Spanish coach’s guidance.
With Emery comes the turnaround
The 4-0 home win against Brentford was followed by a 4-0 defeat at Newcastle United, before the following game against Manchester United was won again 3-1. As if that were not enough, the Lions also won 2-1 at surprise team Brighton in their last match before the World Cup break. Now it remains to be seen whether Aston Villa can carry this momentum into the next matches despite the long break. The Lions lost the last two test matches before the resumption of play against Chelsea and Unai Emery’s former club Villarreal both with 0:1.
Aston Villa facts & analysis
– 18 points from 15 games, 12th place.
– Last 2:1 win at Brighton
– Won 3 of last 4 matches
Liverpool form & balance check
It should have been clear to every expert that Liverpool FC cannot maintain the brutal consistency of the last few years forever. Nevertheless, it came as quite a surprise how much the Reds have fallen short of their own expectations in the first half of the 2022/23 season. Jürgen Klopp’s team made a complete mess of the start of the season with only two wins from the first eight games. Since then, however, things have been looking up again. His team has won four of its last six games, with only the interim defeats at Nottingham Forest (0:1) and against Leeds United (1:2) dampening the upward trend.
First three wins in a row?
However, just like Aston Villa, Liverpool have won their last two games before the World Cup break, so a third successive treble is also possible on Boxing Day. Following victories at Tottenham Hotspur (2-1) and against Southampton FC (3-1), it would be the first time this season that Liverpool have won three games in a row.
LFC lost their dress rehearsal for the resumption of league action 3-2 against reigning champions Manchester City last Thursday. In a spectacular EFL Cup Round of 16 match, the two top teams delivered an entertaining exchange of blows that ultimately had the better end for the Citizens. After a 1-1 draw at the break, Riyad Mahrez (47th) and Mo Salah (48th) made it 2-2 immediately after the break, with Nathan Aké scoring the winning goal for the Skyblues in the 58th minute.
Liverpool facts & analysis
– 22 points from 14 games, 7th place.
– Last 3:1 win against Southampton
– Won last 5 Boxing Day games (goal difference 15:0)
Predicted line-up – last update on 24 December 2022
Aston Villa’s regular keeper Emiliano Martínez is still celebrating the World Cup title with his Argentina teammates. The only other absentees are the Brazilian duo of Philippe Coutinho and Diego Carlos.
Liverpool will definitely have a different line-up compared to the cup match against City. In addition to regular keeper Alisson, Fabinho, Virgil van Dijk and Roberto Firmino are also likely to be in the starting eleven.
Aston Villa – Liverpool direct comparison & stats
The direct comparison covers 190 games, of which Liverpool won 93. Aston Villa won 58 times, 39 games did not find a winner. Of the last nine duels, eight went to the Reds, the only exception being the Lions’ historic 7-2 win in October 2020.
– The average of goals scored in a meeting between Aston Villa and Liverpool FC is 4.2.
– The winner of the last meeting was Liverpool FC.
– Did you know that Liverpool FC score 21% of their goals between the 31-45 minute mark?
– A look at Aston Villa: Danny Ings is the top scorer with 5 goals. 7 times Roberto Firmino scored for Liverpool FC.
