Aston Villa V Liverpool pre match thread. Sat 24th Aug. 5:30 KO

The way Villa is playing this season for me it seems that 
they are having self believe this season ,this is going  to
be our reality check....and if we do get maximum  points than I
think  we will make the top 4.

Not just that. Villa Park is a very happy hunting ground for us. 

And especially a certain Mr. Gerrard.

Iago Aspas Juncal‏@aspas10now
 Good night tomorrow 3 points #YNWA

Good enough for me. I predict tough game with our lot edging it in the end.

I am looking forward to this game. I think it will be a good early test of how our season might go.(sadly the days of looking to the games against the mancs and Chelsea as markers for our season seems to be a thing of the past)

I think as long as we can keep Benteke under control we have a great chance of getting another 3 points and then we are on a roll. I would go with the same team as last week end expect a similar scoreline 1-0.

I hope our lack of success in the transfer market doesn't have a dampening effect on the team today and they play their hearts out..... we need a good win to get a bit of optimism back.

 

Zonal marking and keeping a few players back is vital today.  We don't want to get caught on the counter with the pace of villa. It doesn't mean we are going to throw long balls for 90mins. We have to play through the middle and stay organized. If I see Johnson or Enrique making runs forward and we concede that way I'll be annoyed as it's preventable and 3 points are available today.

Picked Coutinho as my Fantasy Team captain this week, think he's going to have a field day against a tired Villa squad

Not always been the happiest of hunting grounds for us, but got a feeling we'll sneak this one, go two up early and concede late as we have a nervous wobble.

Are you kidding - over the last 15 years we have won their 9 times and lost only once....If this is a happy hunting ground then were fu**ed

Villa scored first in all their matches this season, Arsenal and Chelsea.  We don't want to have to come from behind. Villa facing Chelsea midweek may help us as we have had more rest and preparation for the game.

Are you kidding - over the last 15 years we have won their 9 times and lost only once....If this is a happy hunting ground then were fu**ed

I meant to add in my youth, when I was a kid Villa Park was close enough to talk my dad into taking me along (stories of wearing my Liverpool top in the Holte End another time ), 1986-96, if memory serves, I think I witnessed one win.  It might be me, I could be the jinx.  I was there when Rosenthal made that miss and I was there for Stewart Downing's last game as a Villa player, when they beat us as well.  F'n hate that ground!

I predicted a draw. Bit worried about their hoof ball and our lack of pace at the back. Hope we can adjust to counter that. Not sure if we can, but also don't think we will miss as many chances to score, as we did against stoke.  I am therefore going to be extremely brave, and change my prediction to a 3 - 4 win for us.
Think this might be a cracking game, end to end. Us on the ground, them hoofing it. 

This will sound strange but Id love to see us struggle for large parts of the game tomorrow and come away with 3 points. I think thers a set of balls in this squad now.

Failing that a 4 nil demolition will do

Know where you're coming from Bri, it sure beats the hell out of dominating 3/4 of the game and having it snatched from us at the last gasp, which has happened so many times last in recent seasons.

The mancs have been doing what you describe for years and winning titles the same way.

I predicted a draw. Bit worried about their hoof ball and our lack of pace at the back. Hope we can adjust to counter that. Not sure if we can, but also don't think we will miss as many chances to score, as we did against stoke.  I am therefore going to be extremely brave, and change my prediction to a 3 - 4 win for us.
Think this might be a cracking game, end to end. Us on the ground, them hoofing it. 

I went for a win but cannot see that kind of a scoreline today, go along with the single goal margin but a more hard fought game.;

Know where you're coming from Bri, it sure beats the hell out of dominating 3/4 of the game and having it snatched from us at the last gasp, which has happened so many times last in recent seasons.

The mancs have been doing what you for years and winning titles the same way.

Yeah I need to see our lads 2nd best for 90 minutes and come a way with 3 points. Not every week don't get me wrong but the odd game  just to show we have he bottle to dig out a win         

5-0 Liverpool.

BT engineer coming between 13:00 and 18:00 to investigate our sh*t Infinity connection. He'd better be done and out of here by 17:15!

Had similar problems last week, they were quite helpful on the phone, and when the engineer came out, all be it Monday morning it was sorted in under an hour, now everything works fine, so hopefully you'll be up and running before kick off

A sneaky 2-1 win for the reds will do for me, they've not done bad in their first two games against two of the top four teams but now they're playing US !

Wonder if Villa will just stick to what they're best at and counter or whether because they are at home they will actually get out of their own half.

Hopefully they do, give us an easier chance to get round the back of them.

Chelsea defenders tried their best and benteke had one  chance that too narrow angle and he scored.So I don't think we will keep a clean sheet.
But mignolet is like super man, his saves are fantastic, only problem is  his ball handling and distribution are below standards.
So for me this will be a high scoring match , hoping for a 2-3 win for us. But if mignolet does well then 0-2 win for us

Greetings, Liverpool fans!

I'm a Villa fan, but come in peace ahead of today's game.  I'd like to ask a few questions to gauge your views ahead of today's match, and would appreciate your answers, to give us over at VillaTalk an idea of how you see the game going, as well as your thoughts on both clubs.  As a new member, I apologise if this is in the wrong place.  Questions below:

What will the score be today?

What about Liverpool should Villa be particularly wary of?

Overall, who do you rate highly of the Villa squad? Anyone you’d take at Anfield, given the chance?

What are your views on Luis Suárez?  Will he stay?  Should he stay?

What do you think of Paul Lambert?

Where do you think Liverpool will finish this season?  Similarly, what would you consider a successful campaign?

Where do you think Villa will finish this season? What do you think Villa should consider a successful campaign?

How would you rate your personal feelings about Villa, from 1-10 (1 being detest, 10 being love them as your second club)?  What do you like and/or dislike about them?

Cheers!

Villa scored first in all their matches this season, Arsenal and Chelsea.  We don't want to have to come from behind. Villa facing Chelsea midweek may help us as we have had more rest and preparation for the game.

They didn't.

Giroud for Arsenal.
Luna OG vs Chelsea.

They didn't.

Giroud for Arsenal.
Luna OG vs Chelsea.

 Apart from being wrong about both matches though he was spot on.

Had similar problems last week, they were quite helpful on the phone, and when the engineer came out, all be it Monday morning it was sorted in under an hour, now everything works fine, so hopefully you'll be up and running before kick off

Well I hope the engineer can sort it quickly but the customer service so far has been appalling. We've called, emailed and used the online chat countless times and keep getting fobbed off with, "Somebody will look into it and get back to you". Yesterday it took a 50 minute phone call, including transfers to 3 different departments to get them to finally agree to sending an engineer!
I know they can't just go to that stage every time a customer calls but this has been going on for a couple of months and our 76mbps connection has been at 2mbps this week and at one point, down to 252kbps!

good luck we have the same problem and we are at the ombudsman stage now.

Off they don't sort it this time, we'll definitely be going to that stage next!

Just browsed a Villa forum - they are VERY confident ahead of this match.

'Confidence' and 'Villa fans', are usually mutually exclusive.