Aston Villa vs Liverpool tips:
Liverpool have the chance to open up a 10-point gap at the top of the Premier League on Wednesday when they travel to Aston Villa (kick-off 7:30pm, live on TNT Sports and Discovery+ app).
This game has been rearranged from the weekend of the Carabao Cup final, when Liverpool will face Newcastle at Wembley.
Victory for Arne Slot’s side would pile more pressure on second-placed Arsenal, who already have an uphill task if they are to prevent Liverpool from winning the league title for the 20th time.
Closing a lead of 10 points with 13 games to go would be a tough ask for anyone, let alone a side who are missing the attacking options Arsenal are.
Victory isn’t guaranteed for Liverpool though, despite the fact they have lost just once in the league this season, as Villa are desperate to climb back up the table after a run of four games without a win.
They have impressed in the Champions League but that success, which saw them finish eighth in the table and secure direct passage to the last 16, has come at a cost in the league.
We have seen it so many times before when teams who are not used to playing in Europe then struggle in their following domestic games.
Villa have won just one of their games directly after a Champions League match, drawing three and losing the other four which has left them ninth in the table and five points behind fifth-placed Bournemouth.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool prediction: Reds to edge closer to the title
Liverpool weren’t at their best on Sunday when they faced Wolves at Anfield but goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah were enough to earn them a 2-1 win and take their unbeaten run in the league to 21.
Surely they can’t go through the rest of the league season without losing but recent history suggests it’s unlikely to happen at Villa Park, with Villa having won just one of their last 14 against Liverpool, and losing 11.
Their last win came back in October 2020 when they secured a memorable shock 7-2 win thanks largely to a hat-trick from Ollie Watkins and two from Jack Grealish.
The last match at Villa Park finished 3-3 when the now-departed Jhon Duran scored twice in the last five minutes to earn his side a point.
Goals are the norm in this fixture with the last seven matches at Villa Park producing a total of 33 goals, at an average of 4.7 per game. Liverpool have scored at least twice in all of these matches and with 60 from their 25 games this season we would expect at least two this time around.
The Reds are yet to lose an away game in the league under Arne Slot, with his run of 13 games, made up of nine wins and four draws, the longest unbeaten start on the road by any manager in the competition’s history.
The 2-2 draw at Everton last week saw him break the record set by John Gregory with Aston Villa of 12 games from March to November 1998.
Football betting sites have the Reds as the favourites for the win at 20/23, while Villa are 3/1 and you can get 31/10 on a draw.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool prediction 1: Over 4.5 goals - 7/2 BetMGM
Aston Villa vs Liverpool betting: Rogers to be involved in goals
It would be easy to go with Mo Salah to score again as he has 14 goals and nine assists in Liverpool’s 13 away league games this season, but the odds understandably aren’t great. Betting sites are offering just 9/2 on him scoring first or 6/4 at any time.
Morgan Rogers has made the step up to the Premier League look easy, since joining Villa from Middlesbrough just over 12 months ago. In the league, he has scored nine and assisted with five more, but this season alone he has 11 goals in all competitions and a Champions League hat-trick against Celtic.
You can get 4/1 on him scoring at any time or 49/20 on him to score or assist which is pretty generous.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool prediction 2: Rogers to score or assist - 49/20 Unibet
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