Notable statistics before the match
After 25 rounds of the Premier League, Liverpool is leading with 60 points, 7 points more than Arsenal. They played early against Aston Villa because they have to participate in the English League Cup final against Newcastle next month. An away win would see Liverpool create a 10-point gap with Arsenal, but that task is not easy.
Aston Villa have played very well at home this season, losing only 1 match with a score of 0-2 to Arsenal. In the remaining 6 matches, Unai Emery's team won 6 and drew the remaining 6 matches.
However, Liverpool are still the only team yet to lose away from home in the Premier League this season in 13 matches (9 wins, 4 draws).
In the history of the English top flight, there have been only five times a team has avoided defeat in 14 or more away games since the start of the season, including: Leeds United in 1973-1974 (15), Liverpool in 1987-1988 (15), Arsenal in 2001-2002 (19), Arsenal in 2003-04 (19) and Man United in 2020-2021 (19).
Aston Villa entered the match against Liverpool after a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Ipswich Town, despite the away team playing with one less player since the first half, after a red card from Axel Tuanzebe.
Emery has not had a good record against Liverpool, having won just one of his 12 meetings with them in all competitions (D4 L7). His only win came when Sevilla beat Liverpool 3-1 in the Europa League final in 2016.
Among the opponents Emery has faced more than five times in his coaching career, his 8% win over Liverpool is the lowest.
Marcus Rashford, a player on loan from Man United by Villa, is a threat to Liverpool. The striker has scored five goals in eight Premier League appearances against Liverpool for Man United. Excluding penalties, only Sergio Aguero (7 goals), Thierry Henry (6) and Jamie Vardy (6) have scored more home goals against Liverpool.
Rashford impressed in Villa's Premier League debut against Ipswich, and it was his free kick that hit the crossbar for Ollie Watkins to equalize.
Watkins has scored five goals against Liverpool in the Premier League, a tally only bettered against Brighton (7), Arsenal (6), although he has not scored in his last four games against Liverpool.
After a heartbreaking last-minute draw with Everton last week, Liverpool came back strongly against Wolves when they won 2-1 at Anfield, despite having to endure a lot of pressure in the second half.
Salah continued to leave his mark with a penalty goal. The Egyptian has been involved in 37 goals for Liverpool in the Premier League this season.
Salah is even more effective away from home, scoring 14 goals and providing 3 assists in the last 13 matches.
In terms of force, Boubacar Kamara may miss the next few matches of Villa after being injured in the match against Ipswich. In addition, coach Unai Emery is also expected to be without Ross Barkley, Pau Torres, Matty Cash, Amadou Onana and Ezri Konsa when he joins Liverpool.
On Liverpool's side, coach Arne Slot confirmed that striker Cody Gakpo and defender Joe Gomez are also not present due to injury.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool head-to-head record
Aston Villa have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games against Liverpool (D2 L11), despite a convincing 7-2 win at Villa Park in October 2020.
Liverpool won 2-0 in the first leg at Anfield in November, with goals scored by Darwin Nunez and Salah.
The Aston Villa vs Liverpool match will take place at 2:30 a.m. on February 20.
