Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Aston Villa will be without Jack Grealish, who has twisted his ankle in training.
Rudy Gestede and Carlos Sanchez will be assessed after hamstring injuries and Alan Hutton is available but Jordan Ayew remains suspended.
Liverpool trio Daniel Sturridge, Divock Origi and Philippe Coutinho may all feature after they returned from injury in the FA Cup defeat at West Ham.
Steven Caulker is fit but Joe Allen misses out with a hamstring injury.
Defenders Dejan Lovren and Martin Skrtel have both returned to training but neither will be ready for Sunday.
Editor’s Note: Liverpool crashed out of the F.A. Cup in Midweek after being taken the full length of Extra Time by West Ham and then beaten by a 121st Minute winner, thankfully for Jurgen Klopp that was a near reserve side so his side shouldn’t feel the effects of that too much but the bigger concern for the Ex Dortmund Manager is the fact that they are currently 11th in the League.
You can almost say that this season from a League point of view is done for, the only focus is a possible League Cup win victory at the end of the month or shifting all the focus to the Europa League and qualifying for next season’s Champions League through that route. But from here on in each Liverpool game in the Premier League will just be an exercise for Klopp to decide who goes and who stays in the Summer.
It was people going that grabbed the headlines last week as fans departed in the 77th Minute to protest against rising ticket prices, that seemed to work as the club have backed down from their proposals in the Week but if they did leave early they would have missed their beloved Reds throw away a 2-0 lead against Sunderland. Simon Mignolet again coming under criticism for letting in a soft goal while the Liverpool Defence showing why it’s been such a problem area as Jermaine Defoe bagged an injury time equaliser
If Liverpool are going through the motions between now and the end of the season then Aston Villa may consider this the perfect opportunity in which to take advantage. They will be buoyed by their win over Norwich last week which makes their impossible job just ever so slightly more achievable. It was a key 2-0 win over a fellow struggling side which had they lost would have seen the gap to safety extend to 13 points.
That would have pretty much been the final nail in the coffin but Remi Garde’s side aren’t refusing to die just yet, they still have an awful lot to do and the only way they get out of this mess is by winning matches and more importantly getting a run of wins under their belt. The will only have 12 games to go after this one and they if they don’t start eroding into that 8 point gap that is currently in front of them then the last few months are going to be a lost cause.
Villa have the lowest scoring tally in the League this season with just 20 Goals scored in 25 matches, a return which says relegation in anyone’s eyes. Gabriel Agbonlahor only managed to get his first of the season last Saturday and Remi Garde will be hoping he can add to that tally Today if his Villa side are going to have a chance of coming away with anything this Afternoon.
Unfortunately for Villa I think they will come away empty handed and Liverpool will get a win which all see them move back into the top half and back above their Merseyside rivals. That part of the League seems to be congested so a win could see them go 8th but failure to do that and it’s going to be a bleak spring for Liverpool. No crisis just yet though, away win for me.
