This weekend City showed their resilience.
Now Liverpool Football Club will need to do the same. All of us suffered a gut punch on Saturday, and that certainly includes the players and manager.
After the disappointing draw against Spurs, LFC’s hopes of a 20th league title have gone from hopeful to slim. But slim is not none, and the Reds need to show resolve to keep that dim flame burning. City can lose. The Reds can (again) overtake them on goal difference. But none of that matters unless Liverpool also win their final three league matches. And, they tell me you can’t win ‘em all unless you win the first one. Thus, the Reds face yet another must-win game. Ho hum.
On paper, this one is easier than the last one. Villa has had a decent season since hiring Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, but no one will confuse them with being great. On the season, Aston Villa have scored 47 and conceded 47. It’s hard to get more mediocre than that. They have some talented players, included LFC’s own former magician, Phillippe Coutinho, as well as former Liverpool striker Danny Ings.
When these two teams met at Anfield in December, the Reds squeaked by with a 1-0 victory. Gerrard, unsurprisingly, parked a large bus in the penalty area. Their defense stifled Liverpool most of the match, and also created a few scary counterattacking opportunities for themselves. The game’s only goal came on a 67th minute penalty from Mohamed Salah. In essence, in December Villa played LFC exactly the same way that Spurs just did. Villa’s players, of course, aren’t as good as Tottenham’s. And, Gerrard is much less experienced than Conte. But their game plans were essentially the same against Liverpool. I expect the same again tomorrow.
Liverpool should rotate some tomorrow, to maximize their freshness for the FA Cup final on Saturday. I’ll guess that Thiago and Fabinho both go to the bench for this one. I expect Matip to return to the lineup tomorrow, although I don’t know whether to expect him or Konaté to start against Chelsea. Robertson got a bit of a rest at the end of the match Saturday, so I’ll guess that he starts this one, but Gomez comes in for Trent on the other side.
Predicted lineup:
I’ll guess that this game will be slightly more open than the reverse fixture at Anfield. I also think the Reds are likely to lose concentration at some points here, as they lick their wounds from Saturday while also subconsciously look forward to the cup final. But, in the end, the mighty Reds will have enough.
Aston Villa 1 – LFC 2
