Liverpool to overcome stubborn Villa

Steven Gerrard makes his return to Anfield on Saturday, with the Liverpool legend set to face his former club as Aston Villa manager.

No-one will be as acutely aware of the challenge facing the Villans as the iconic midfielder, who played more than 700 times for his hometown team and netted 185 goals. 

Nevertheless, Gerrard has overseen an improvement in Villa’s performances, sufficient to back them at +1.5 on the Asian handicap market with odds of 2.28.

Reds not flawless at Anfield

Liverpool come into this game having made history in midweek, when they became the first Premier League side to win all six games Champions League group stage games. They did so despite rotating heavily away to Milan, where goals from Mo Salah and Divock Origi gave them a 2-1 success.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have been a juggernaut in recent weeks, winning six successive games since a surprise loss against West Ham.

They have not, however, been infallible at Anfield this season. Although they are undefeated at home in the league, they have drawn three of their seven matches. While two of those ties came against Chelsea and Manchester City, they were held 2-2 by Brighton as recently as October 30.

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk will look to help his side make it seven straight wins in all competitions

Villa to make life awkward

Gerrard’s return to the club at which he made his name will no doubt draw the headlines one way or another following this match, but after three wins from his first four games, he will be quietly confident of a positive result.

Under their new manager’s guidance, they have overcome Brighton, Crystal Palace and Leicester.

Their sole defeat came against Manchester City, but Villa showed enough in that 2-1 defeat to suggest they can at least run Liverpool close.

Historically, Villa have given Liverpool a run for their money at Anfield. Over the last seven league fixtures dating back to 2011-12, only once have they been beaten by more than a single goal. And of course, there was the 7-2 game at Villa Park last season.

They might not be good enough to get a result, especially as they will be without injured attackers Danny Ings and Leon Baily, but they can certainly be competitive.

Jota set for more joy?

Mohamed Salah may attract most of the headlines for Liverpool, but in Diogo Jota they have another forward in form.

Although the Portuguese had a rare off afternoon against Wolves in last weekend’s scrappy 1-0 win, he had been in excellent form before then, scoring four in three league matches, plus against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

Jota was one of the players rested by Klopp for the midweek trip to Milan and so should be fresh for this game.

He is given a 20% chance of scoring the first goal in this game, predictably behind only Salah, who is given a 26% chance of striking first.

The former Wolves player, meanwhile, is a 50% shot to find the net at any time.