By Lewis Rymond
What a difference a result can make. Lambert’s Lions are through to the semi-finals of the Capital One League Cup, and all of a sudden everything is OK – a new sense of optimism has emerged. This momentum, however, has arrived at a time in which Liverpool are starting to find their feet in the league, and it might be a difficult match to call…
Match Difficulty Grade
B The vision Brendan Rogers has for Liverpool has finally started to take off at Anfield and the team is on a run that overshadows that of Villa. Lambert made something of an impression on his former employees on Tuesday, but like the Villa fans he admitted how unusual it is that his team have scored more goals in the cup than they have in the league. A clash of two teams finding form, with Liverpool possessing the home advantage!
Form is Temporary
Current Premier League form table (last six games) – Liverpool – 4th / Villa – 15th
Liverpool: Last five Premier League matches at home: W 3, D 2 L 0
Aston Villa: Last five Premier League matches away: W 1, D 3, L 1
In the last five visits to Anfield, Villa have won once, drawn twice and lost twice.
Facts to Sweep Under the Carpet
Every team has a team they do well against. Unfortunately for Villa, we are that team to Liverpool. They have beaten us 21 times in the Premier League – matched only by their win record against Newcastle. Liverpool are on the right track and have kept four clean sheets in their last five home games. The record for Villa’s goal-scoring habits remains a worry for Lambert. Only 12 have been scored by Villa so far, which is the lowest count in the league. Can’t we just call it the Capital One Premier League?
What We Pray the Football Gods Will Provide
In the Premier League, Christian Benteke is yet to score away from home. It’s time that changed at Anfield! Villa go into this game with a few more players at our disposal than last weekend, most importantly will be the introduction of a naturally left-footed wing back in either Bennett or Stevens to restore balance to Villa when they go forward. This should also help Benteke. With N’Zogbia also now available for selection, all these players could prove useful in the changes of formation taking place under Paul Lambert. Let’s have more of the clinical performance we saw on Tuesday. Oh, and as Darren Bent is sidelined for the next couple of weeks, more songs about Andi Weimann could be handy in inspiring the young Austrian to bag a few more.
Why Villa are Totally 100% Going to Win
We’re due a win at Anfield, and if the team can answer Lambert’s call to match our cup form, there’s no reason Villa can’t take all three points. If there’s one thing we’ve seen with the recent Villa form, it’s that our young squad are beginning to cope with the pressure of ‘big’ games and largely not letting it affect performances. Liverpool are nearing where they want to be in terms of their form, but Aston Villa will be feeling confident and shouldn’t let a trip to Anfield intimidate them. Of course, we also have the formation everyone is talking about, that Lambert apparently participated in as a Borussia Dortmund player. It seems that Villa are making people take notice at the moment – and this might be another result to do the same. UTV
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