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

Im glad Villa have looked good in there first 2 games as i think it will focus our lads minds on the task in hand.

In Toure we possibily have the type of player to handle Benteke and if we handle him its advantage us because I dont see Villa matching us in any other sector of the pitch. Its the kind of game I think Coutinho and Sturridge could do major damage in.

Result aside I hope we match the effort and comittment of last week and show the same team spirit.

               Mignolet

Johnson Toure Agger Enrique

                   Lucas

          Gerrard        Hendo

                  Coutinho

         Aspas                Sturridge 

We will now discover if our defence is up to the mark and whether we are serious contenders for the Premiership.

This is going to be a hard game.  This is not the Villa of last season and it will be a real test.

The result is not the be all and end all of the matter.  A team which gave Arsenal and Chelsea such a hard time will fancy their chances against us.  We need to put in a performance which demonstrates our class.

I think we will learn a lot from this game.

Go for 2-1 for us.

This is going to be a much better and closer game than a lot of people think. Villa have shown a lot of good stuff in their first two matches and Benteke has been on fire to start the season. We might be able to catch them off early though -- they've have two fixtures to start the season, so there's a good possibility they're not quite in mid-season fitness yet.

Cissokho probably makes an appearance in the second half. And seeing as it's Aston Villa, Gerrard to get off the mark. I'm thinking we'll see the same starting XI that we saw last week:

Mignolet
Toure        Agger
Johnson                              Enrique
Gerrard    Lucas 
Aspas       Henderson      Coutinho
Sturridge

Same team as last weak with Cissokho, Allen and Raheem to come on in the second half. Think that will be enough to scrape a hard fought win. Toure v Benteke will be some battle!

Hard game but a win for us will do

We have a few things in our favour here they had a hard game against chelsea. We are rested its important for us to score first though. Bentake has to be contained definitely he only needs half a chance to score. Our defence has to be on top of there games. Our keeper must rank as one of the best in the ell, if we have at least half the team giving 100% think we will win by the odd goal 2-1 to the reds my prediction.

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

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!

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.

Hard game this, may find a bit more about our strengths or weaknesses. Would be a good gname to win and we would be 5 points better off than last season.

Think we'll draw this 2 a piece. Villa have looked strong and Benteke is an obvious threat. I'd be delighted if we can walk away with all three points though.

               Mignolet
Johnson Toure Agger Enrique
         Gerrard  Lucas
             Henderson
Aspas       Sturridge    Coutinho


We still need someone top left so that Coutinho can play the no.10 role though. Could possibly drop Hendo and play Sterling on the left instead.

Villa rely on pace up front, and that's about it.

They can play some nice stuff, but the main dangers are benteke and agbonlahor, so I see us playing slightly deeper than usual.

Toure and Agger will need to be on top of their games, and Lucas will play a vital part of supporting them.

Apart from the hoof factor, I don't think we need to worry too much, but we just can't afford to give those 2 any time or space.

3-1 to us.

Villa knocked over Arsenal away, so they'll be buzzing.
Benteke & Agbon are quick up front, and will cause us trouble.
All things considered, think this could end up a draw.

Only thing is we have a decent record against Villa (though the 1-3 defeat at home last season that, along with the 0-2 against West Brom, is a bit of a scar)
And Coutinho and Sturridge were damn good last week, as were others too.
Should be a good game, looking forward to it.  CMONNN BOYS !!!!!

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!

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

This is going to be a good game.
They will definitely play to their strengths at home, and I'm a bit lost on how we are going to deal with Benteke. To be honest, we're not going to be able to handle him, so should just focus on playing our game and scoring as many as possible as they will doubtlessly be successful with some set pieces.
Its start of season I'm still optimistic and hope my negativity is unfounded; backed a 2-3 away win, but my head says will be dropped points and a score draw.

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.

Same team as last. Could be a tough game for us but we should win it.

Villa is a though opponent, showed it against Arsenal and Chelsea. Really good up front with Weimann, Agbonlahor and Benteke, that's gonna be the main point whether we can keep them 3 quiet. I think the starting XI will be pretty much the same.

come on reds! lets beat them and grab the three points.

YNWA!

 

Tough game ahead tomorrow and Villa will be no push overs this season.

A different challenge than Stoke but still a game we have to play well in to get three points.

Same as last week for me team wise as although Henderson was selected for a particular reason against Stoke I feel he's done enough to keep his place.

Best bit of news i've read all day. It can't all be all doom and gloom everyone!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23737183

Last season's match came in March and resulted in a 2-1 win for Liverpool, who haven't lost a league game since.

Tough game ahead tomorrow and Villa will be no push overs this season.

A different challenge than Stoke but still a game we have to play well in to get three points.

Same as last week for me team wise as although Henderson was selected for a particular reason against Stoke I feel he's done enough to keep his place.

Me too si. Thought Hendo worked his bollocks off in the Stoke game and was still going towards the end. Was a very good decision to start him and he deserves another start tomorrow.

Best bit of news i've read all day. It can't all be all doom and gloom everyone!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23737183

Last season's match came in March and resulted in a 2-1 win for Liverpool, who haven't lost a league game since.

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