Liverpool head to Aston Villa for their latest tricky away assignment, with the chance to move 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Aston Villa vs. Liverpool
Premier League (26) | Villa Park
February 19, 2025 | 7.30pm (GMT)
The Reds battled their way to an ugly 2-1 win at home to Wolves over the weekend but improvements will be needed at Villa Park.
Unai Emery’s side are awkward opponents who are in the Champions League last-16 and are looking for back-to-back top-four finishes.
Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game.
1. A chance to go 10 points clear!
For so long, Liverpool have been on catch-up this season, constantly having a game in hand on Arsenal and the rest.
On Wednesday, however, the Reds will play ahead of everyone else due to this fixture originally being scheduled for when they face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final (March 16).
This means Liverpool can go 10 points ahead of Arsenal with a win, which would be a big psychological advantage.
Dropped points would give the Gunners a boost before they host West Ham on Saturday, though, prior to the Reds heading to Man City 24 hours later.
2. Villa a dangerous but inconsistent outfit
Villa head into Wednesday’s match sitting ninth in the Premier League but they feel like a better team than that.
Unai Emery’s side have many talented players and finished eighth in the 36-team Champions League group, so this is a big challenge for Liverpool.
The Villa faithful will be in raucous spirits, looking to upset the league leaders, and the Reds must be much improved from the Wolves game.
In Morgan Rogers, they have a top-quality midfielder who has been described as Villa’s version of Kaka by supporter Tom Fahy – read more here in our fan Q&A preview.
3. Who’s missing for Liverpool?
Cody Gakpo has failed to overcome an ankle issue suffered at Everton last week but his absence shouldn’t be too lengthy.
Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton are different stories, however, with both missing with respective hamstring and shoulder problems.
For Gomez, surgery may even be required, but Arne Slot is hopeful that he will play again this season.
On the plus side, Curtis Jones is back after serving his one-match ban following his red card at Goodison Park.
4. Potential Liverpool XI
Slot will know the importance of rotation but it would be a surprise if there were many changes from the Wolves game.
Kostas Tsimikas is pushing to replace Andy Robertson at left-back, with the Scot again short of his best last weekend.
Meanwhile, the returning Jones could bring fresh legs to the midfield, potentially replacing Dominik Szoboszlai in the No. 10 role.
In attack, Luis Diaz should continue on the left after a productive weekend outing, with Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez battling to lead the line.
Possible Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Jones; Salah, Diaz, Nunez.
5. How will Villa line-up?
Villa have plenty of injury problems going into their visit of Liverpool, which hasn’t helped their inconsistent league form.
Pau Torres, Boubacar Kamara, Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana are all definitely out, while Leon Bailey, Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa are all doubts with a decision to be made on matchday.
Marcus Rashford, so often the scourge of Liverpool – he has scored seven times against the Reds – could start on the left wing after joining on loan from Man United.
Tyrone Mings is expected to be available after recovering from a knee injury to feature against Ipswich.
Predicted Villa XI: Martinez; Garcia, Disasi, Mings, Digne; Tielemans, McGinn; Ramsey, Rogers, Rashford; Watkins
6. Slot not worried about title nerves
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Slot shot down any notion that nerves could get the better of Liverpool in the title race, backing experienced heads to stand tall:
“I think it always helps if you have experienced it already, that’s not only me but also for the players.
“We lean a lot on the players because we train with them, I give them a pre-match meeting to try to prepare them in the best possible way but from that moment onwards you lean on the players – how much work-rate do they want to put in, how well do they execute the gameplan, do they adapt to what the other team does?
“It helps not in the sense they have won the league here maybe but they are used to playing big games in their career with a lot of pressure: Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) has won a World Cup.”
7. Liverpool’s record at Villa Park
Villa Park can be a tough place to go, especially under the lights.
Last season, Jurgen Klopp‘s declining side blew a 3-1 lead, with Jhon Duran scoring twice in the dying minutes to snatch a 3-3 draw.
Liverpool haven’t lost at Villa since the freak 7-2 defeat in the ‘proper Covid season’ in 2020/21 – does it even count behind closed doors?
Prior to last season’s aforementioned draw, the Reds have actually won their last eight matches at Villa Park in front of supporters.
That takes some doing!
8. Did you know?
Mohamed Salah once again found the net for Liverpool against Wolves, as he continues to enjoy arguably his best-ever season at Anfield.
The Egyptian (239) is now only two goals behind Gordon Hodgson (241) in the all-time Reds scoring charts, with the latter in third place currently.
If Salah has overtaken Hodgson by the end of this week, Liverpool will have had a great chance of winning at both Villa and Man City.
You wouldn’t bet against him.
9. Pawson under the spotlight
Craig Pawson will referee Wednesday’s match – his first Liverpool game in the Premier League this season.
The only other Reds fixture he has taken charge of in 2024/25 is the 4-0 win over Tottenham in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg.
Pawson’s assistants at Villa Park are Constantine Hatzidakis and Steve Meredith, while Tom Bramall is fourth official.
Alex Chilowicz is on VAR, with Tim Wood assisting him.
10. Follow the match with TIA
Aston Villa vs. Liverpool is a 7.30pm (GMT) kickoff, in order not to clash with the Champions League playoff games at 8pm.
The match is live on TNT Sports 2 from 6.30pm.
Henry Jackson is in charge of This Is Anfield‘s matchday live blog, nervously keeping you company from 6.45pm.
Come on you Reds!
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