There are several matches to be played in the English Premier League on Saturday the 10th of April. One of which takes place at Anfield as Liverpool welcome Aston Villa with the hosts in 7th place on 49 points and the visitors in 9th place on 44 points.
Liverpool come into the game having suffered a 3-1 defeat at Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night. It was a disappointing performance from Liverpool and they were especially poor in the first half.
Defeat in the first leg. #RMALIV | #UCL— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 6, 2021
Defeat in the first leg. #RMALIV | #UCL
There were signs of improvement at the beginning of the second half but Real Madrid took control to come out as comfortable winners.
However, Liverpool will look back at their most recent game in the Premier League with pleasure as they defeated Arsenal 3-0 away from home.
The Gunners went down without a fight but it was a sign Liverpool intend to push for a place in the top four until the end of the season.
If they are going to succeed, Liverpool need to improve their home form as they have lost each of their last 6 Premier League fixtures at Anfield.
Liverpool have failed to score a goal in each of their last 3 home Premier League games and have found the back of the net only once in their last 6 home league matches.
Aston Villa make the trip north having defeated Fulham 3-1 at home in the Premier League last weekend. When Fulham opened the scoring just after the hour mark, it appeared as though Aston Villa were going to go 5 games without a victory.
However, they fought back strongly in the final 20 minutes of the match to score 3 goals and take maximum points.
That result keeps Aston Villa within touching distance of the European qualifying places but they have been struggling for victories away from home in the Premier League.
Aston Villa have won only 2 of their 9 most recent away league games. That includes just one victory from their last 4 on the road.
Trends show that in Aston Villa's last 5 away games in the Premier League there have been under 2.5 goals scored. They have scored only 3 goals themselves across those 5 matches, failing to score more than a single goal in each of the 5 games.
Looking ahead to the team news and Liverpool will continue without Divock Origi, Caoimhin Kelleher, Jordan Henderson, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, and Virgil Van Dijk who are all injured. Roberto Firmino may start having been on the bench in Madrid.
Aston Villa will hope Jack Grealish is fit enough to return to the squad for this game but may have to start on the bench. Every other player should be fit and available for the visitors.
Liverpool’s poor run at home cannot continue and this is a huge game for them in their pursuit of the top four.
If they can match the level of performance shown at Arsenal last weekend, Liverpool should come out on top in a match with under 2.5 goals.