English Premier
2012-04-07 - Liverpool vs Aston Villa
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 7 April 2012 - Kick Off 3pm
Liverpool
Kenny Dalglish has described the current run Liverpool are on as the 'worst he can remember' and the positives from the two domestic Cup runs is beginning to disappear with their League form. Their performances at Anfield have not been to the level expected of them, while the signings since Dalglish has taken over have failed to impress.
Liverpool dropped below their local rivals in the Premier League table to 8th and they are a ridiculous 34 points behind the leaders Manchester United as progress has not been made as expected. They have a 5-8-2 record at Anfield this season, scoring 19 goals and conceding 12, but the draws have really hurt them.
The Reds have now lost 6 of their last 7 Premier League games following a 2-0 defeat at Newcastle United last week and they have now won just 1 of their last 8 League games. Liverpool have won just 1 of their last 5 League games at Anfield and they have lost 2 of their last 3 including an embarrassing 1-2 loss to Wigan Atletic.
Pepe Reina is suspended for the first of three games, while Charlie Adam is ruled out. Glen Johson, Martin Kelly and Dan Agger are all doubts and could be kept back with the FA Cup Semi Final against Everton next week in mind.
Aston Villa
The end of the season cannot come fast enough for Alex McLeish and his Aston Villa side, but they have to be careful that they are not dragged back into the relegation dogfight after a poor run of form. The fans got together with the club to offer their support to club Captain Stilyan Petrov last week, but they have protests planned against the management staff before the end of the season.
The danger for Villa is the fact that the teams below them keep winning and they now have a 5 point gap between themselves and 19th placed Wigan Athletic. They have a 3-8-4 record away from home this season, scoring 16 goals and conceding 21.
Villa have won just 1 of their last 8 games in the Premier League and they have lost back to back League games while conceding 7 goals and only scoring 2. They have picked up just 2 points from the last 12 available away from home in the Premier League and they were beaten 3-0 at Arsenal in their last game on their travels.
Injuries have really taken their toll on the Villa squad, so much so that they had a very youthful team take the field in the 2-4 loss to Chelsea at home last week. Alan Hutton could return this week, but the likes of Charles N'Zogbia, Darren Bent, Richard Dunne and Stilyan Petrov are all out.
Head to Head
Liverpool were comfortable 0-2 winners at Villa Park in their meeting earlier this season.
They have won 6 of their last 8 home games against Aston Villa, although only 2 of their last 4. However, they did beat Villa 3-0 here last season.
Prediction
Liverpool have been awful in recent weeks, especially when it comes to the Premier League, but they need to find some sort of momentum before the FA Cup Semi Final against Everton next week with two League games this week.
Aston Villa have also been struggling recently, as injuries began piling up, and they were comfortably beaten in their last game at Arsenal. Liverpool are not playing as well as Arsenal are, but they do create chances and it will come down to whether they can take them or not.
I don't like saying this, but I think Liverpool can win this game against a team in even more disarray at the moment and I expect they will be able to take advantage of the youthful nature of the starting XI.
The likes of Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard should be able to create chances and I am going to take the risk that they will be able to actually take the ones on offer. Liverpool have beaten Aston Villa fairly comfortably when they do win, their last 4 at Anfield all coming by at least 2 goals including last season when they won here 3-0.
It is a risk considering the way that Liverpool have performed at Anfield in the League this season, but it looks worth taking at 2.30.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa
