By Aaron Conlon
Monday night will be Jurgen Klopp’s penultimate game as Liverpool boss and the travelling Reds will be looking for a deserving result. Aston Villa are fresh from the 6-2 aggregate humbling they received from Greek outfit Olympiakos in the Europa Conference League last Thursday.
With Monday night featuring as Klopp’s last-ever away game for the Reds, the travelling Kop will certainly reward him with the send-off he deserves, similar to that of Roberto Firmino at Southampton last season.
Home side Aston Villa will be looking to win the matchup, with the three points guaranteeing Champions League football for the Villans for the first time since 1983. Following 3 consecutive losses and no win in 4, the home side will be looking to bounce back from being thrown out of Europe and finish the season on a high. Villa will be without a plethora of players, Emiliano Buendia, Boubacar Kamara, Tyrone Mings, Jacob Ramsey, Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Nicolo Zaniolo will all likely miss out through injury.
The Reds will be looking to extend onto the 4-2 win against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend with special emphasis on replicating the first hour of the match which saw a rampant display for the Reds, scoring 4. For Liverpool now it is all about creating a platform to build off post-Klopp, with the end of the season in firm sight, Liverpool will want to go out as best they can, with winning the premier league still being ‘mathematically possible’.
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Liverpool are seven unbeaten against the home side, winning 6 and drawing once. The Reds will be hoping to reciprocate the reverse fixture earlier this season, a result which saw Liverpool breeze past Villa 3-0 at Anfield and provided Dominik Szoboszlai with his first goal in a red shirt, via a crisp half-volley from the edge of the box. Liverpool have won only one of their last 3 away games and will be hoping to make an improvement on this record, however, with Villa being the hardest game out of all 4 on paper, questions can be raised. Aston Villa have also only suffered one defeat in their last 7 home games, with that loss being the 4-2 defeat to Olympiakos in the Europa Conference League, it certainly will be a stern test for the Reds.
Diogo Jota, Ben Doak, Joel Matip and Thiago will all likely miss out via injury. Positive signs for Connor Bradley and Stefan Bajcetic as both featured on the bench, with Bajcetic making his long-awaited return from injury, featuring for 26 minutes.
Klopp’s Penultimate Pre-Match Press Conference LIVE | Aston Villa v Liverpool
Predicted Liverpool Lineup: Alisson, Trent Alexander Arnold, Jarell Quansah, Virgil Van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister, Harvey Elliot, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Mo Salah.
Following a great display against Spurs and no fixture for over a week, it should be no surprise if Klopp fields the same side that started against Tottenham with players such as Dominik Szoboszlai and Darwin Nunez certain to feature at some stage from the bench. Harvey Elliot seems destined to start following his performance against Spurs which was topped off with a peach of a strike, as well as Klopp stating “But if I regret one thing a little bit it’s that Harvey didn’t play often enough (this season).” In his pre-match press conference on Friday.
Aston Villa v Liverpool | The Match Preview Show
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