English Premier
2025-11-01 - Liverpool vs Aston Villa
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 1st November 2025 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
Liverpool
It feels like football fans are more fickle these days than they would have been even a decade ago and some of that is down to the explosion of social media and perhaps even an instant gratification culture that has developed. That can only be the main reason that so many Liverpool fans have been speaking openly about changing a manager that won the Premier League title just a few months ago.
Arne Slot is going to be the first to admit that results are not good enough, but there has been an overreaction to his team selection in the League Cup Fourth Round. More worrying is the 7 point gap between Champions Liverpool and Premier League leaders Arsenal and this is a big week coming up for The Reds. Improving the 3-0-1 Premier League record at Anfield has to be the sole focus for the manager and the players this weekend, even with games against Real Madrid and Manchester City on deck.
Liverpool opened the season with a number of late winning goals, but they have suddenly lost 6 of the last 7 fixtures played in all competitions. A much changed team were thumped 0-3 at Anfield by Crystal Palace in the League Cup Fourth Round this past Wednesday and does mean Liverpool have lost the last 2 fixtures played at Anfield.
Jeremie Frimpong and Curtis Jones are expected to return after the next international break, while Alisson is a doubt. Ryan Gravenberch and Alexander Isak are other players struggling to be passed fit ahead of this fixture, while the manager will restore his biggest names having rested them in the League Cup.
Aston Villa
The early League Cup exit would have hurt at the time, but Unai Emery and his players will be benefiting from having a week to prepare for another big Premier League fixture. A slow start looks to be behind Aston Villa and the players will have taken a huge amount of confidence from holding on and beating Manchester City 1-0 at home last Sunday.
Other clubs may be making more headlines, but Aston Villa have quietly moved up into 8th place in the Premier League table and they have secured 15 points. Returning to the Champions League is the ambition for the manager and the board and Aston Villa will travel to Liverpool with a 1-2-1 away record in the League.
Aston Villa have lost 1 of their last 10 games in all competitions in normal time, while the victory over Manchester City last time out means they have won 6 of the last 7 games played. The exception in that time is a 2-1 loss at Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League, but Aston Villa did win their last away Premier League game when coming from behind to stun Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 in North London.
Harvey Elliot is unable to take part in a fixture against his parent club. Youri Tielemans and Emi Buendia are both doubts.
Head to Head
Liverpool took four points from Aston Villa last season with the majority earned in a 2-0 home win.
The Reds have won 6 of their last 7 home fixtures played against Aston Villa, including the last 2 in succession.
Prediction
This is the second week in a row when Liverpool have been scheduled to play in the very late Saturday evening spot in the Premier League.
Fans will arrive at Anfield with a bit of trepidation as a poor run of form shows little sign of ending.
Last Saturday Liverpool were losing 3-2 at Brentford, while the 0-3 defeat to Crystal Palace in the League Cup Fourth Round on Wednesday night has led to plenty of criticism for manager Arne Slot. Some fans believed he should have played a stronger team, while others are pining for Jurgen Klopp to return, despite Slot overseeing a Championship winning season just six months ago.
The manager will know his team need to be better- the problems have been at the back where Liverpool look vulnerable to any balls going into the box. Direct passes have turned them around too quickly, while set pieces have been a bugbear of the defenders and they are going to be tested by Aston Villa in this one.
Coming out of the September international break, these two teams were in very different form- Liverpool were in the midst of a winning run, while Aston Villa couldn't score a goal, never mind win a match.
Suddenly it is Liverpool who have lost 6 in 7, while Aston Villa's win over Manchester City means they have won 6 in 7 and the confidence looks to be returning.
Unai Emery is going to be well aware that his team can cause Liverpool plenty of problems, but he will also need his own defenders to step up. Recent results have been very positive, but Liverpool are a team that will create issues for Aston Villa and Emery's team have not always looked completely at ease at the back.
Despite the loss, Manchester City had the better chances last week against Aston Villa and visiting Anfield has proved too much for The Villans, even if performances have been better than the results earned here.
It is hard to ignore the form guide and there will be plenty backing Aston Villa to keep the positive run going at the expense of a Liverpool team that have been struggling to get out of their own way.
However, it should be pointed out that Liverpool have not played too many home games recently and they have still been creating a lot of chances. Back to back defeats at Anfield is never going to be acceptable, but Arne Slot can point to some misfortune in the Premier League defeat to Manchester United and will believe he needed to rest the key names for the League Cup tie that eventually got away from his team.
As much as the recent Aston Villa results have been significantly improved, it would be wrong to dismiss the fact that they were second best for large parts of fixtures at Sunderland, Feyenoord and Tottenham Hotspur.
Unai Emery's team will have to be a lot better to contain a rested Liverpool attack that should create plenty of chances and the feeling is that the home team will have too much in the final third, even if they are going through a rough patch of form.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Liverpool 3-1 Aston Villa
