Already looking forward to this. Isn't it a great feeling being good again eh?
The 1-3 game last season was an odd one. It was by no means a fluke. Suarez had two or three very good chances prior to their goal, had he taken one of them then of course the game would have gone a lot differently but he didn't and, once Aston Villa went ahead, we never really looked like getting back in to the game. Their second goal was sublime, a seriously well-executed counter-attack. But since that game (December 2012) our home record has been fabulous; just two defeats at Anfield I believe.
I think a lot of players who started for us that day will be in the team again; Skrtel, Johnson, Lucas, Gerrard, Sterling and Suarez are either certs or have a good chance of doing so. The latter two started 2012/13 very well but I think it was around that time that Sterling was dropping off due to fatigue or whatnot, while Suarez was playing well but not this well. Now, those two are in scintillating form. Sakho should come back in, and as much as I love Agger I'd say Mama is better equipped to deal with their attacking threats. Cissokho, poor as he has been for us, is surely a better left-back than Stewart Downing, who played there that day. Henderson will of course play, probably in the place of Allen; like Sterling, I think Allen was struggling a bit at that point after a terrific start to the season. Hendo, meanwhile, is in the form of his life at the moment. Then it's quite likely going to be a choice of two players for one of the attacking roles alongside Suarez and Sterling (I think he'll start, it would be harsh to drop him on recent form unless you've got Messi or Ronaldo waiting in the wings). I think it goes without saying that whichever player Rodgers opts to start between Sturridge and Coutinho is going to be an upgrade on our (former) Jonjo, who played out of position on the left wing that day I believe. So yeah, we're a lot better now than we were then, certainly in attack, not only in personnel but clearly in mentality too. We never looked like coming back that day. When we recently fell behind at Manchester City and Chelsea, we were always in the game. Against Stoke on Sunday after throwing away a 0-2 lead I still expected us to come through with three points. Last season we wouldn't have done.
As for Villa, well they are practically the same as they were last season when they came here - ludicrously inconsistent, seemingly able to pick up unbelievable results both for (wins against Arsenal, Man City and Southampton come to mind) and against (defeat at home to Crystal Palace is cause for concern for any Premier League club, with all due respect to the Eagles). I think they have actually got worse as a team when it comes to ball retention despite their young players being a year older. Their recent possession counts are quite awful in truth. They only managed 35% of the ball against Sunderland on New Year's Day. Yeah, they won, but that is still embarrassing even for a self-proclaimed counter-attacking team, considering who they were up against. They crossed the ball a lot against Arsenal on Monday. Lowton has a good whip on him so it's important he's denied the chance to use it too often. That was their only real service throughout bar the odd shot from distance.
Their summer transfers haven't really paid off yet. Okore got an injury a few games in so can't be judged, but Luna looks just as bad as his predecessor at left-back (Bennett), Tonev is an utter donkey and that Kozak, until his injury at least, looked pony. Delph has improved a lot from what I've seen but Benteke appears to be out of form. Whether that goal against Arsenal last night triggers a return to form, who knows, but I'd fancy Sakho to do a job on him.
Just having a think back to their wins against some big clubs this season... the opening day 1-3 at Arsenal was a brilliant result for them, fair play. Obviously it was the opening day, Arsenal were in disarray and Villa were given two penalties to aid them, as well as a red card to Koscielny, but it was a great result nonetheless. Their big wins though were almost completely down to luck and being clinical while their opponents were profligacy personified. They beat City 3-2 at Villa Park, on another day it would have ended 0-4. Their 2-3 win at Southampton was absolutely unreal, Saints battered them for 90 minutes, dominated possession but Villa took each and every one of their chances/half-chances. Fantastic results those three, but nothing like their well-executed 1-3 at Anfield last season. Oh, and they were beaten 0-3 by a van Persie-less Manchester United. NO ONE loses 0-3 to those lot in the league thesedays.
I used to quite like Villa as a club and still do but I remember going in to their Villa Talk forum prior to our game at their place in August and they were outrageously deluded. Some of them thought with their team that was top four/six was achievable. One guy even proclaimed that they had nothing to worry about with the visit of us as, on paper, their team was apparently superior to ours. Another quipped that Benteke is, was and always would be better than the 'ridiculously average' Daniel Sturridge. I haven't been back since.
I know we've beaten them twice at VP since the 1-3 (last time I'll mention it, promise) but you can bet that BR will be determined to put right last season's shocker. He and Lambert's career paths were somewhat similar, both gaining promotion in the same year with Swansea and Norwich respectively and then establishing both sides in their first year in the top flight with consummate ease. The difference was then that Rodgers took on the Liverpool job while Lambert had to settle for Villa. No doubt some healthy competition between the two lingers. I should actually confess here that I really rated Lambert in the summer of 2012 and would have happily seen him take our reigns. Well I still do rate him to an extent, but we definitely got the right man.
Mentioned earlier in the post that Sterling is probably a definite to start simply due to his form. I wonder what position that will be in though. Chances are he'll remain on the right flank but could that be in a 4-2-2-2 - are we able to be reliant enough on our defence and midfield to get SASASACoutinho on the pitch together from the beginning? Probably not, as enjoyable as that would be. How about Rodgers converting back to a 3-5-2 with the other half of SAS back and a difficult in picking between Coutinho/Sterling? Raheem at right-wing-back in the place of the below-par Johnson (who could even switch to the left) would allow Coutinho to play off SAS. I think Villa may opt for 3-5-2 if Baker's fit, so it would be interesting if we went with similar.
I've blagged on here because I'm bored as F**k but not in the least bit tired. I'll end it with a fair prediction:
Liverpool 5-1 Aston Villa
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