Reds travel to Villa Park in search of fourth consecutive win

Liverpool hope to pick up a fourth consecutive win in all competitions as they face Aston Villa on Saturday.

The hosts, after going on a tremendous run of form to eventually get promoted from the Championship, have remarkably managed to sustain a decent start to the season considering their transfer window.

Villa brought in £150 million worth of players, including centre-half Tyrone Mings and winger Anwar El Ghazi who spent the previous season on loan in the Midlands.

They started the season by performing well, but now they are starting to pick up wins, including the 5-1 thumping of Norwich at Carrow Road. They lost to three second-half goals from Manchester City last time out, and beat Wolves midweek in the Carabao Cup.

And it is in this competition where Liverpool played out a thriller themselves. The Reds came from behind three times to eventually claim a last minute 5-5 draw with Arsenal. And with Caoimhin Kelleher saving from Dani Ceballos, young Scouser Curtis Jones netted the winning penalty in a fairy-tale moment for the young Reds.

In the Premier League they came from behind again, beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Anfield last Sunday. Goals from captain Jordan Henderson and a Mohamed Salah penalty helped cancel out the opener within a minute by Harry Kane.

The last time the Reds arrived in B6 it was for a 6-0 thrashing of the relegation candidates Villa in 2015/16. With Remi Garde’s side woeful, even Kolo Toure got on the scoresheet for Liverpool. But circumstances are different now, and this Villa team are certainly a lot more youthful and exciting than that one.

Team news

With fixture congestion being a big talking point for the Reds at present, it will be interesting to see how Jurgen Klopp lines up – although he is likely to head out with his typical 4-3-3, with Dejan Lovren being the second centre-back alongside Virgil van Dijk. Joel Matip, Xherdan Shaqiri and Nathaniel Clyne are the only definite absentees. Mo Salah is a slight doubt but is expected to play.

For Villa, their talisman and skipper Jack Grealish has been fighting a calf injury and missed their win over Wolves, but hopes to fit for Saturday’s clash.

Backup striker Keinan Davis limped off in Wednesday’s win and is unlikely to be in the squad, with Jota and James Chester also ruled out through injury.

Engels: “My girlfriend’s family are all Reds, but they want me to win”

Villa centre-back Bjorn Engels has spoken of his girlfriend’s love for the Reds, and how she may not might mind if they lose this time.

“My girlfriend is from Liverpool – her whole family is. And they are all Reds, too! We have been joking about things in the build-up. This is normal.

“I think Aston Villa is the only team who can beat Liverpool and they won’t be too upset.

“She has told me many times how good the fans are here at this club. She really looks forward to the home games. She loves the atmosphere. She goes to some of the away games, too.

“Despite this being against Liverpool – her team – she’s already told me she will be supporting me. Don’t worry about that.”

Klopp upbeat on season start:

“We play so many games. Everyone tries to fit the Carabao game in and you think ‘wow!’ A lot of yards and miles to run yet. We have created the basis, points wise. We just think about Aston Villa. A good team, unlucky start now they have the results.”