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Liverpool Must Learn from Aston Villa
Failures to Keep Up Good League
Start
By Karl Matchett on September 9, 2014
Liverpool vs. Aston Villa : a heavyweight
Premier League battle of yesteryear, but in
more recent times a team battling to make
ground at the top against one trying
desperately to avoid the drop at the bottom.
With that in mind and Saturday's fixture
being played at Anfield, a home three points
would seem the most likely outcome—but
Brendan Rodgers has seen his side struggle
enormously against Villa in his two
campaigns so far with the Reds.
In a tough league where every win matters,
the lessons from those two slip-ups are
paramount for the Reds to learn from this
time around if they want to capitalise on the
win at Spurs last time out and take a third
win from four games at the start of the new
season.
Villains
A 3-1 battering two years ago was one thing,
but Liverpool were in the midst of a good run
—which was about to become a great one—
last season when they stumbled to a 2-2
draw against Villa, having initially gone two
goals down.
The comeback showed mental resistance and
the ability of the team to continue scoring in
adversity, but Liverpool really shouldn't have
put themselves in the position to begin with.
Villa were better from the off, looked far more
threatening and certainly deserved their point.
Big Problems, Repeatedly
Runners, and runners from deep.
This has been an issue for the Reds for a
long time, but Aston Villa in particular have
exploited it repeatedly. Not a star name
perhaps, but Andreas Weimann has been one
of the players to give Liverpool most trouble
over the past couple of seasons, coming in
off the channels and using his lightning pace
to exploit gaps between the defenders and
the fact that the central midfield don't track
back enough.
Part of this stems from the alignment in the
middle, as Liverpool used a flat double pivot
both times.
This has often caused the Reds trouble with
runners from deep, with no single individual
taking responsibility to either block off the
runs or at least track them.
Last season the Reds switched to a flat
4-4-2 for the Villa match and were undone,
with Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson
starting as a central pivot and not getting to
grips with Villa overloading the middle and
getting players forward from wide areas very
quickly.
Gaps between full-back and centre-back, as
well as nobody picking up the likes of
Weimann running from deep, have cost the
Reds five points from two home games
against this opposition over the past two
seasons.
Coping This Time Around
Liverpool were back in their diamond
formation against Spurs and looked far better
balanced at both ends of the pitch, while the
centre-back pairing of Dejan Lovren and
Mamadou Sakho was as solid as the back
line has looked all season, even with the
Croatian having a few moments of lacking
awareness.
Assuming the back four stays the same,
Liverpool have better pace in the wide areas
now to cope with that movement behind the
back line—Alberto Moreno and Javi Manquillo
have both started well—but it is the midfield
shape which should be the biggest
improvement.
The Reds could move to a 4-3-3 to provide
greater cover down the wings, perhaps with
Adam Lallana getting his first start on the
right for that reason. But playing Gerrard as
the deepest point to protect the defence with
his clearances and headers, with two pressers
ahead—Henderson and Joe Allen—should be
enough to repel what has been a strong and
well-organised Villa outfit at the start of the
campaign.
Along with keeping pace with the likes of
Manchester City and Chelsea , a handy guide
for Liverpool's own form is to try and match
or improve on results of last season against
the same team each time.
A win at the weekend will put the Reds firmly
on the path to improvement against Villa and
will cap an impressive overall start, results-
wise, to the 2014-15 season—a nice boost
ahead of the Reds' return to Champions
League action next week.

Aston villa is a problematic club to the red and Liverpool should choke the mid field in order to curtail the pace of the villans
.

Match preview


Mario Balotelli will make his Anfield debut on
Saturday night as Aston Villa arrive on
Merseyside for a clash of two teams in the top
five.
After three games of the season, Aston Villa,
third, have defied doubters to get off to a
wonderful start that’s included two wins and a
draw. Fifth-placed Liverpool, by comparison,
have just registered two wins and a defeat.
After beating Hull 2-1 at Villa Park last time
out, Paul Lambert must decide whether to
stick or twist in midfield for the Liverpool test.
Lambert may well decide that he wants to
solidify the side by bringing summer signing
Carlos Sanchez into the starting XI.
Elsewhere Villa should remain unchanged,
with captain Ron Vlaar the rock at the back,
England international Fabian Delph bring the
cut and thrust in midfield, while
Gabby Agbonlahor will run a lone furrow up
front.
Lambert will also have to decide whether to
start deadline day signing Tom Cleverley, who
may begin this match on the bench.
As for Liverpool, they’ll come into the game
buoyed after a 3-0 win at Tottenham in their
last league game, while Daniel Sturridge
should at least be on the bench for the
Villans.
Brendan Rodgers’ biggest headache comes at
the back, where Martin Skrtel, John Flanagan
and Glen Johnson are all likely to miss the
match with injuries. On the brighter side,
however, Adam Lallana is fit again and could
feature from the bench.
Villa have a pretty good record at Anfield in
recent seasons, having claimed two draws and
a win on their last three visits to Liverpool.
That included a 2-2 draw back in January.
Nevertheless Liverpool should be boosted by
the debut of Balotelli at home, and a home
win seems like the order of the day this
weekend.
101GG Predicts: Liverpool 3 – Aston Villa 1
Some essential facts & stats to help with
online betting on Liverpool v Aston Villa
Liverpool have won 8 of their last 9 home
matches in the Premier League.
Liverpool have scored at least 2 goals in 16 of
their last 17 home matches in the Premier
League.
Mario Balotelli has 6 goals in 4 appearances
against Aston Villa from his playing days
with Manchester City.
Aston Villa have conceded just one goal in
three Premier League games this season.
Aston Villa won their last away Premier
League match 1-0 at Stoke. Before that Villa
had lost 7 of their previous 8 road trips.