Reds Away To Villa

on
Downing returns to Villa...

Liverpool make their way down to the Midlands on Sunday for a game against Alex McLeish's Aston Villa. Villa at the moment appear to be struggling to score goals and with Liverpool creating chances but perhaps not converting as many as they should be, this could be an interesting fixture.

Injuries for Aston Villa aren't a real problem but Gabby Agbonlahor will miss out due to a one match ban for collecting 5 yellow cards.

For Liverpool, Steven Gerrard is still out and so too is Lucas of course. Jay Spearing will also be unavailable due to his 3 match ban he picked up at Fulham.

Most fans will remember the last meeting between the two sides. Stewart Downing scored the winner for Villa in a rather dry affair for the Reds. Times however have changed and now perhaps Downing will be able to find his first goal in a Red shirt at his old stomping ground?

Other than the 1-0 win for Aston Villa we have to go back to 1998 to find them another win at home against the Reds. With Liverpool on a decent run of away form, on paper this looks good.

In the news this week you're sure to have heard that the FA have still not come to a decision on the Suarez/Evra situation. It's unfortunate really because one way or another we would like to find out the verdict so that Suarez can move on. I just can't understand why the FA said they were going to give a decision and then changed their minds at the last minute? I'm aware this needs to be taken seriously and they are fully entitled to more time but don't tell us one thing and mean another!

With all this going on in the background it would be nice to see the Suarez we saw last match, putting everything behind him and just focusing on the football for 90 minutes.

I also think that the starting line up against QPR was a good one and would love to see Maxi start again.

Stat Sandwich

  • The Reds have the best defensive record in the league, letting in just 13 goals and keeping 5 clean sheets.
  • Darren Bent has scored 5 goals this season, all of them at Villa Park.
  • If Daniel Agger starts for Liverpool it will be his 150th appearance in a Red shirt.

With a nice run of fixtures over the Christmas period for Liverpool it would be brilliant to get off to a winning start. As mentioned in the opening to the post Villa haven't exactly been prominent in front of goal and with Agbonlahor out, i can't see them having too many chances. Liverpool just need to make sure they take theirs and with hopefully an attacking presence consisting of Suarez, Bellamy and Maxi, we'll be able to grab all three points.