Liverpool vs. Aston Villa Bet Builder Tips: 20/1 treble for Sunday's game
As a precursor to the weekend's big game between Arsenal and Man Utd, Liverpool welcome Aston Villa to Anfield on Sunday at 2pm. To supplement Tom Winch's match preview we've designed a 20/1 bet builder which is available with bet365.
Liverpool vs Aston Villa Bet Builder Tips
In Villa's quest for European qualification towards the end of last season, these two teams played out an evenly contested 1-1 draw at Anfield. Substitute Roberto Firmino rescued a late point for the home side in his final appearance on Merseyside, making it two somewhat frustrating results for Emery's AVFC team against The Reds.
Five months prior on Boxing Day, the hosts gave a better account of themselves than the 3-1 scoreline suggested. In the infancy of incorporating his ideals into their playing style, Villa were quite frantic that day, as was the game in general. Now, the Villans are the antithesis of that, playing with a real zest and control.
So far this term, Liverpool have conceded in each of their three opening games, while Villa have hit back following their opening day misstep against Newcastle with comprehensive victories over Everton, Burnley and Hibernian twice in the Europa Conference League play-offs.
LFC still seem off the pace in these early stages and the absence of Virgil Van Dijk will only add to that matter. This is an area that existing forward players like Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey can exploit, while summer recruits Moussa Diaby and Nicolo Zaniolo will have a field day driving at the Liverpool backline with pace and vigour.
However, at the other end of the pitch, Liverpool can and will cause Villa many problems. They're incredibly well endowed in this area, having numerous options to rotate and freshen things up. Darwin Nunez came off the bench to score a brace and win them the game at St. James' Park and should be in line for a start on Sunday. Mohamed Salah is ever potent when it comes to posting impressive attacking returns, while Luis Diaz has been his side's most electric forward in the current campaign.
Villa's most experienced defender Ezri Konsa will be integral in the away side's efforts of taking something home from Merseyside. Dependent on the system that Emery deploys, Konsa could either find himself directly responsible for Liverpool's centre forward when partnering Pau Torres or operating in a back three alongside the sharpened addition of Diego Carlos. If it's the latter, then the 25-year-old will be expected to cover Villa's defensive right-hand side, and judging by Matty Cash's goalscoring antics recently, this wing-back-oriented system may take priority.
Although the defender has yet to be cautioned this season, the three fouls he has committed have all come in each of Villa's two away games. That leaves him already a quarter of the way towards his fouls tally for the whole of the 2022/23 Premier League season after only three games!
He also amassed six PL bookings last term, with one of those coming in this exact meeting in May and a further three issued in important away games at Manchester City, Tottenham and Arsenal.
But as far as what the away side can bring to the table, don't be surprised by another strong showing from new forward Moussa Diaby. The Bundesliga recruit has bolstered Villa's attacking ranks significantly for the forthcoming campaign, looking at home with Emery's demands already.
He's scored two extremely well taken goals in both of AVFC's away matches, with the first of those coming on his debut in the North East and his second rounding up a convincing 3-1 win at Turf Moor.
To add to that solid return, he's let off the joint-most shots for Villa with 8 alongside Matty Cash and Ollie Watkins. His accuracy, on the other hand, tells you a clearer story of how deadly he looks, with five of those efforts finding the target.
His composure in and around the opposition box is likely to return him a few goals against the league's best this season, and having come from Leverkusen where he played in multiple Champions League and Europa League matches, he won't be fazed stepping up on these big occasions.
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