Aston Villa vs Liverpool 02/11/19

2 November 2019

After losing 3-0 to the reigning Premier League (PL) holders Manchester City, Aston Villa face another formidable challenge as last season’s runners-up Liverpool arrive at Villa Park.

Before going down at the Etihad last time out, the hosts have secured back-to-back PL wins, both of which have seen them score two or more goals and concede one exactly. Interestingly, all three of Villa’s top-flight wins have come against teams from the bottom half of the table, while they’ve lost each of their three clashes against last season’s top-five teams by conceding precisely three goals. Far more comfortable on home turf, the returnees have grabbed eight of their 11 total points at Villa Park (W2, D2, L1), scoring over 1.5 match goals three times in the process. But, it will be a daunting task for Aston Villa to maintain their solid home record, as they’ve lost three successive PL H2Hs with Liverpool, allowing 11 goals while scoring four across those meetings.

A comeback home triumph over Tottenham last time out means that the visitors have remained the only unbeaten side in England’s top-flight (W9, D1) and maintained a six-point cushion to Manchester City. Although the Reds won four of five PL trips this season, the most of them have been hard-fought, as three have seen them prevail by a single-goal margin. The Merseyside giant could extend their impressive 15-game unbeaten PL away run here (W11, D4), as they’ve won each of their last five top-flight visits to Aston Villa (L1), scoring 2+ match goals four times along the way. But, Jurgen Klopp’s men have scored just 39% of their total PL goals away from home (nine of 23), with five of them arriving before the break.