Liverpool at Villa Park, time to have a go and can't lose
I've not been great in keeping up what is going on with Aston Villa the past few weeks and this week, taking the family away for a few days has meant the same. Still, tomorrow I get to have breakfast beers somewhere near Venice Beach. It's not all bad.
And that said, tomorrow is going to be fun. You see, it's one of those matches we can't lose. But it is one of those matches where you don't want to see us sitting back and trying to defend. You don't win matches when you sit back and try to not let a team like Liverpool score.
Sure, you might win one in five or one in ten, but most of the time you're not going to win. And even if we don't lose, do you want to see your team stealing a point by not letting the other team score and us not scoring?
What I mean to say is that you want to see your team having a go. We all want to see Aston Villa taking the game to Liverpool and not waiting for them to attack. Still, we can't lose right.
And like I said, I'll be breakfast drinking tomorrow, so back then.
Match facts from the BBC
Head-to-head
- Liverpool have won five successive league matches away to Villa - their best run in this fixture - scoring 13 goals and only conceding one.
- Aston Villa's solitary Premier League victory in the past 18 meetings at home came in May 2011 (D5, L12).
- They have only scored five goals in their last 17 Premier League home fixtures against the Reds.
- Liverpool's 6-0 victory at Villa Park in the 191st and most recent encounter, in February 2016, is their record score against the Villans.
Aston Villa
- Dean Smith's side could go unbeaten in five successive Premier League home matches for the first time since November 2014 to January 2015.
- However, Villa have lost 15 of their past 16 league fixtures against established top-six opposition, drawing the other game versus Manchester City four years ago.
- Thirteen of the 16 goals conceded by Villa this season have come after half-time.
- They would be third in the table, and eight points better off, based on first-half scores.
- Aston Villa have the division's joint-sixth best goalscoring record, with 15 goals, but only the current bottom three have conceded more often.
Liverpool
- Liverpool have equalled the Premier League record of 28 points after the opening 10 fixtures. All three teams who made a similar start (Chelsea in 2005-06, Manchester City in 2011-12 and 2017-18) went on to win the title that season.
- The Reds have also matched their best record after 10 matches of a top-flight campaign. On the three previous occasions, they also won their 11th league fixture.
- Jurgen Klopp's side have gone 27 league matches unbeaten, winning 18 of the past 19. Their most recent defeat came at Manchester City on 3 January.
- They have won 13 successive league games against promoted sides since a 1-1 draw at Newcastle in October 2017.
- The Reds have scored in 19 successive league matches since a goalless draw away to Everton in March.
- Liverpool's last nine league goals have been scored by eight players.
- James Milner scored 12 goals in 100 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa across two spells.
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