Dean Smith does not expect Aston Villa to face a Liverpool side on Sunday who have eased off the gas having already been crowned Premier League champions.
Villa travel to Anfield tasked with the huge challenge of coming up against Jurgen Klopp’s Reds, who are unbeaten in 56 home league games and have won their last 23 in succession.
Having last week sealed their maiden Premier League title and first top-flight crown for 30 years with seven games remaining, Liverpool went on to lose 4-0 at Manchester City on Thursday night.
But Villa Head Coach Smith felt Liverpool’s approach to the game could not be questioned and believes they simply faced a City side who were on top form.
“I agreed with Jurgen Klopp, I thought their attitude was good, they came up against a team who can do that against anybody,” said Smith.
“But Liverpool also had their chances in the game.
“I’m not wary of a backlash because I think they’ll go into the game with exactly the same attitude.
“It’s refreshing for me to hear Jurgen Klopp talk about the word ‘attitude’ because it’s something we speak to our players about all the time.
“As I’ve said, I thought their attitude was spot on and it will be against us as well.”
Asked if he was expecting them to take their foot off the pedal, Dean replied: “No, not at all. I think anybody who saw Jurgen Klopp on Thursday night and has seen him through this season knows he won’t allow that.”
Smith’s side pushed Liverpool all the way in November’s reverse fixture at Villa Park, leading with just three minutes remaining before the Reds struck twice.
Trezeguet handed Villa a first-half advantage which remained in place until Andy Robertson converted an 87th-minute leveller and Sadio Mane completed the late turnaround to inflict a 2-1 loss.
But despite defeat, Smith believes Villa can take positives from their display that day.
“We’ll take heart from that performance,” he said.
“We took them to the last three minutes and we were disappointed we didn’t hold on, we made some silly mistakes for their goals but worked extremely hard and more than matched them on the day.
“They’re a quality team, we made sure we weren’t out-worked on the day and we’ll have to make sure we’re not out-worked on Sunday.
“We have to be mindful of the quality they have within their ranks, they’re Premier League and European champions and we’ve got to be at our best.”
