Balotelli Main Man In Villa Game?


Liverpool face Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday after an international break that created an injury scare for Jordan Henderson and left Daniel Sturridge unable to feature for the Reds for three weeks. With Brendan seething at England officials believing the striker's injury was preventable, it is now down to Mario Balotelli to lead the Liverpool line.

Along with Sturridge, Liverpool are also unable to call upon Skrtel, Johnson, Flanagan and Can. Joe Allen will be subject to a late fitness test. Aston Villa on the other hand are relatively strong with only Benteke and Kozak out.

The last time the two sides met was in January this year. The tie at Anfield finished in a 2-2 draw after Villa initially dominated the game finding two goals in just over half an hour. A goal on half time from Daniel Sturridge though was followed in the second half by a Steven Gerrard penalty.

Villa's visit to Anfield in December 2012 was a positive story for them after a Benteke brace and a Weimann goal gave the Midlanders a 3-1 win. I was there for that game, the first chance I'd ever had watching us in a Premier League game at Anfield... Pissed off I was.

Liverpool's overall record against Aston Villa is very strong but when losses occur they happen more often at Anfield.

Villa are currently third in the league after three games. Wins over Stoke and Hull sandwiched a draw with Newcastle which leaves Paul Lambert's side hanging off the coattails of Swansea in second.

Liverpool find themselves 5th in the table having beaten Southampton and Spurs. A loss to Manchester City though leaves them three points off the top.

Stat Sandwich

  • Steven Gerrard has scored 12 goals against Aston Villa.
  • Aston Villa are the only team in the league with more points than shots on target.
  • Liverpool's win over Spurs saw them collect their first clean sheet in eight games.

I asked you for your score predictions on Twitter and I received a load this week so here are a few of your tweets!


I'm feeling quite confident for this one and I'm gonna punt for a 3-0. We played brilliantly against Spurs and whilst the missing Sturridge will obviously have an impact I feel we have enough flair to score a few past Villa.

I really hope Balotelli can get off the mark too, excited to see him play once again, still can't believe he's a Liverpool player!

Enjoy the match folks, wherever you are watching!