Liverpool vs Aston Villa Prediction, Odds and Betting Tips: Back these two bets on Saturday night

Liverpool and Aston Villa go head-to-head at Anfield in Saturday night’s 8pm Premier League fixture, live on TNT Sports 1. 

Oli Nixon has picked out his top two tips for the clash.

The Slot machine just keeps rolling on as Liverpool come into this game top of the Premier League and Champions League tables - at the time of writing - having won 14 of their 16 games in all competitions this season.  

It’s been a remarkable start to life under the Dutchman and the ease with which they saw off Bayer Leverkusen midweek demonstrated that they’re capable of keeping it going.  

Opponents Aston Villa have also had an excellent start to the season both domestically and in Europe but a 4-1 reverse at Tottenham last weekend served as a reminder that they’re not quite the finished article yet.  

With just one win in their last five Premier League games, the Villains will be keen to put that right at Anfield.

This a price that I’ve really struggled to get my head around. Ollie Watkins has been one of the standout players in the Premier League over the last 18 months and under Unai Emery has looked every bit a world class goalscorer.  

The Englishman has scored 24 Premier League goals since the start of last season and has had two shots in eight of his 10 Premier League appearances this season. He also managed two shots in both games between these sides last season. 

Liverpool, meanwhile, have been particularly stingy defensively, conceding just six goals in the league and giving up just 9.8 shots per game. Slot has them dominating games and not giving their opponents many chances and this may play a part in the price that we’re getting for Watkins. However, Villa managed 19 shots the last time these sides met and the Reds have allowed opposition strikers to have at least two shots in each of their last six games. With his previous success against Liverpool and his hunger for a first goal since September, Watkins looks well placed to be the beneficiary of this.

Both these sides draw plenty of offsides with Liverpool’s opponents averaging 1.9 and Villa’s 2.3 per game. Across the 20 Premier League matches involving these teams this season, only nine have had four more offsides, however, the head-to-head data points towards plenty more when they meet.

Each of the last five meetings have covered this line for offsides with totals of 8, 7, 5, 6 and 5 with the highest of those totals coming in the 2 most recent fixtures. 

Whilst Liverpool have tightened up at the back, they are still conceding plenty of goal kicks. They have averaged 6.63 goal kicks per game in all competitions and have had five or more in 13 of their 16 games.

Aston Villa are also forcing their fair share with their opponents in the Premier League averaging 7.5 per game. Only one side has had less than five goal kicks against Villa all season and with them forcing seven on their last visit to Anfield, five feels more than achievable.

Liverpool vs Aston Villa Lineups

The starting lineups for Liverpool vs Aston Villa will be displayed in the graphic below once the team news has been announced.