Liverpool facing crisis, will they escape against Aston Villa?
Liverpool are in a disastrous decline. They have lost 6 of their last 7 matches in all competitions - the second time in 70 years. The Kop are on the brink of losing five consecutive Premier League games, something they have not seen since September3. Can they stop this terrible streak when hosting Aston Villa?
The away team's form shows the opposite. Aston Villa are unbeaten in six consecutive Premier League games - their second longest run in the competition this season, behind only Bournemouth (eight). Notably, Unai Emery's team has won the last 4 matches, including a 2-1 victory over Tottenham and a 1-0 victory over Manchester City.
This match gives Villa the opportunity to become the first team since Leicester City in 2015-2016 to beat both Man City and Liverpool in two consecutive matches in the tournament (Le Leicester then won 3-1 against Man City and 2-0 against Liverpool).
In fact, Liverpool's current situation is reminiscent of Leicester in the 2016-17 season. At that time, the "Foxes" as the defending champions had lost 5 consecutive matches in the Premier League. In the history of the English top flight, there have been seven cases where the defending champions have lost five consecutive games, and it is worth noting that three of those have come against Liverpool (in the 1906-7000, 1924, and 1947-1948 seasons).
To avoid extending that unforgettable list, Liverpool need to solve the clearly revealed tactical problem. Opponents have used a total of 571 long passes against them in the Premier League this season - the highest number ever recorded.
The rate of 20.5% of the passes from opponents against The Kop are long passes, also the highest in the whole tournament. This shows that the "Red Brigade"'s high-level pressing playing style is being effectively neutralized, causing a serious imbalance in Arne Slot's system.
If they do not find a solution quickly, Liverpool could continue to sink deeper into crisis. Meanwhile, Unai Emery's Aston Villa are on the rise and are ready to make Anfield silent once again.
Liverpool need Mohamed Salah back
In the match against Villa, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexander Isak will likely return to the squad, giving Liverpool more attacking options. However, they will still be without Alisson Becker, Jeremie Frimpong, Curtis Jones and young centre-back Giovanni Leoni due to injury.
The Villa game will be an opportunity for Mohamed Salah to regain his scoring touch - as he did when he scored against Brentford last week. The Egyptian star has an impressive head-to-head record against Villa. He has scored or assisted (or both) in all six of his meetings with the team at Anfield. Salah has only played more than 64 minutes against Villa once without directly scoring.
Salah has so far contributed to 275 Premier League goals for Liverpool (187 goals, 88 assists), only behind Wayne Rooney's record (183 goals, 93 assists for Manchester United).
Head-to-head record
Liverpool's form against Aston Villa is still much better than the recent series of gloomy results.
The Kop have won 6 of their last 7 home matches against Villa in the Premier League, drawing only 1 match. They have previously gone 4 matches without a win at Anfield, but Villa have always been Liverpool's favorite opponent.
Although Villa created an earthquake with a 7-2 victory over defending champions Liverpool at Villa Park in October 2020, it seemed like a rare moment for them. Because it was Villa's only win in the last 15 encounters in the Premier League - a streak of 11 defeats.
Score prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Aston Villa
The match between Liverpool and Aston Villa takes place at 3:00 am on November 2 (Vietnam time).
