At A Glance
Aston Villa are looking to do the double over Liverpool for the first time since the inaugural 1992-93 Premier League season when they visit Anfield on Saturday.
A 7-2 rout of the reigning champions back in October helped set the tone for a strong season from Dean Smith’s men, who occupy ninth place heading into the game.
A brace from substitute Trezeguet helped the Villans fight back to beat Fulham 3-1 last time out.
Liverpool come into the game following a 3-1 defeat away to Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter final.
While they’ve won their last two league matches, both of which were on the road, the Reds are without a win in their last seven top-flight games at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp’s side are five points and two places above Villa, having played a game more.
Standout Stats
Liverpool have won their last two home Premier League meetings with Aston Villa, last winning more consecutively between 2003-04 and 2006-07 (four in a row).
Liverpool have lost six home Premier League games against Aston Villa, only losing more against Manchester United (12) and Chelsea (7).
Aston Villa have already netted seven league goals against Liverpool this season, with only Man City in 2017-18 ever scoring more against the Reds in a single Premier League season (8). The last team to score as many as 10 goals against Liverpool in a top-flight season was Arsenal in 1952-53 (10).
Liverpool have lost their last six home Premier League matches, with Huddersfield Town the last team to lose seven in a row back in February 2019. Prior to this season, the highest a team has finished in a top-flight season they’ve lost six or more home games in a row is ninth, achieved by Sunderland in 1946-47.
Aston Villa have only won one of their last 27 top-flight away games against the reigning champions (D6 L20), winning 1-0 against Man Utd at Old Trafford in December 2009. The last reigning champions Villa did the league double over was Arsenal in 1989-90.
No side has kept more away clean sheets in the Premier League this season than Aston Villa (8), while they have never kept more than eight shutouts on the road in a single top-flight campaign.
Sadio Mané has scored eight goals in seven appearances in all competitions against Aston Villa across spells with Southampton and Liverpool, netting in all three games for the Reds against Villa (four goals in total).
After a run of 32 shots without a Premier League goal since July, Aston Villa forward Trézéguet has found the net with two of his last three attempts in the competition.
Liverpool’s Diogo Jota has scored more Premier League goals as a substitute this season than any other player (4), while only Christian Benteke (6 in 2015-16) has scored more substitute goals for Liverpool in a Premier League campaign than the Portuguese forward.
The Last Meeting
This game is one that will forever be imprinted on the memory of every Aston Villa fan.
The home side tore the reigning champions apart from start to finish, scoring seven goals and spurning chances to score even more.
An Ollie Watkins hat-trick, a Jack Grealish brace and goals from John McGinn and Ross Barkley powered Villa to a historic win.
Team News
Dean Smith confirmed that Jack Grealish has suffered a setback with his shin injury and is likely to be out for a few more weeks.
Kortney Hause is fit again and will return to the squad, while Wesley is still building up his match fitness.
Jurgen Klopp said his side came through their midweek European tie unscathed, but the Reds are still without a number of key players in the long-term.
Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez and Divock Origi are all sidelined.
The Boss
“I didn’t like watching them against Arsenal last week because they were outstanding. They’ve got one of the top coaches in the world, they’ve got a top team and they’re still in a place where you can be fearful when you play them. Not fearful in terms of not having a go at them, but they’ve got players who can hurt you. Mo Salah has 20-odd goals again this season. It doesn’t take an awful lot to get them firing again, as we saw against Arsenal last week.”
Dean Smith
