Kick-off: 1730, 26/12/2022
Stadium: Villa Park
TV: Amazon Prime
Aston Villa were rejuvenated by the arrival of Unai Emery before the World Cup break and are fancied to give Liverpool a tough test.
The Midlands outfit memorably thrashed the Reds 7-2 at this venue two seasons ago and have been competitive in three narrow defeats since.
We think 11/10 for the hosts not to lose here is worth taking in our first Aston Villa vs Liverpool prediction.
Aston Villa Odds
The October dismissal of Steven Gerrard was followed by three wins in four Premier League outings for Villa.
Brentford were thumped 4-0 under caretaker coach Aaron Danks and then Emery enjoyed an early 3-1 victory over Manchester United here.
Villa played well in a 4-2 EFL Cup loss to United at Old Trafford, when leading twice.
Danny Ings then hit a double as they came from behind to prevail 2-1 at Brighton.
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez gave fans of the Midlands club something to cheer about when starring in Argentina’s Qatar 2022 triumph, although he will miss out here after a period of rest.
Transfer speculation linking big names such as Joao Felix of Atletico Madrid with a move to Villa Park only adds to the feeling that things are back on the up.
Emery earned plenty of respect for his work with Sevilla, PSG, Arsenal and Villarreal, so Villa are in good hands.
Early goals have helped in the last two home games and 33/20 for the Villans to score first appeals from the Aston Villa vs Liverpool odds.
Last Villa line-up: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne, Douglas Luiz, McGinn, Buendia, Ramsey, Kamara, Ings.
Liverpool Odds
Wildly inconsistent results have scuppered Liverpool’s title ambitions and even left them behind in the race for the top four.
Away defeats at Manchester United and Arsenal were forgiveable, but October’s double blow of losing away to Nottingam Forest and then at home to Leeds really hurt.
Impacted significantly by injuries, it has been a poor domestic campaign by their usually impeccable standards.
Admittedly, though, the Reds did impress in beating Manchester City at Anfield and won five of their six Champions League group-stage games.
They signed off for the World Cup with top-flight victories over Tottenham and Southampton and returned to action with a brave EFL Cup effort at Etihad Stadium on Thursday.
Although going down 3-2, Liverpool twice fought back to level through Fabio Carvalho and Mohamed Salah and created several other decent chances.
Jurgen Klopp hailed a “spectacular game”, but admitted: “We should have defended all three goals much better.
“The third goal, especially, we are not switched on when they start their little routine and with the cross coming in we are not in the right positions.
“So there is obviously still a lot of space for improvement, but then we had our moments, we could have scored more goals.”
For those seeking a bigger pay-out, let’s add 25/2 for a 2-2 draw to our Aston Villa vs Liverpool betting tips.
Last Liverpool line-up: Kelleher, Gomez, Milner, Robertson, Matip, Thiago, Elliott, Bajcetic, Salah, Nunez, Carvalho.
Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino (calf) and midfielder James Milner (hamstring) will miss the trip to Molineux.
However, right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to return after illness, while goalkeeper Alisson Becker and centre-back Virgil Van Dijk are available again after the World Cup.
Additional stats
[jsEntainMatchAnalytics match_id=”300288″]
[jsEntainMatchHead2Head match_id=”300288″]
Join bwin today and receive up to £20 money back as a FreeBet if your first wager (3+ selections at odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater) is a loser! Terms and conditions apply.
