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A reminder of the teams
Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Mamardashvili; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo; Ekitike.
Subs: Woodman, Pecsi, Gomez, Endo, Kerkez, Wirtz, Chiesa, Nyoni, Ngumoha.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1) Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Pau, Digne; Onana, Kamara; Guessand, Rogers, McGinn; Watkins.
Subs: Bizot, Maatsen, Lindelof, Mings, Bogarde, Barkley, Sancho, Malen, Broggio.
Referee Stuart Attwell.
“Yeah, Liverpool were top of the league a few weeks ago, but in all honesty, they weren’t playing a huge amount better then than they are now,” writes Matt Dony. “That mad run of late winners wasn’t sustainable. Sometimes a team has good luck, sometimes they have bad luck, and you just have to hope it all evens out.
“This group of players is too good to be this mediocre for a long period, things will certainly click into place at some point. But I fear it may not be enough. I worry that (already) the title may be gone. The psychological impact of this spell will likely linger, for both Liverpool AND Arsenal.
“Still, a few pride-restoring wins in the short term would be a big help. And, hey, if not tonight, there’s always Real Madrid and Man City to come in the next few days. What could possibly go wrong…”
The Premier League table going into tonight’s game
Liverpool (10th) and Villa (11th) will jump to third if they win. It’s like snakes and bloody ladders.
Updated at 15.46 EDT
Premier League result: Spurs 0-1 Chelsea
Joao Pedro’s goal gave Chelsea victory at Spurs – but they could have won by four or five. Scott Murray is following that one.
Arne Slot makes three changes from last Saturday’s defeat at Brentford. Andy Robertson replaces the struggling Milos Kerkez at left-back; Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister come in for Curtis Jones and Florian Wirtz.
Just one changed to the Villa side that beat Manchester City: Evann Guessand comes in for the injured Emi Buendia.
ShareTeam news
Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Mamardashvili; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo; Ekitike.
Subs: Woodman, Pecsi, Gomez, Endo, Kerkez, Wirtz, Chiesa, Nyoni, Ngumoha.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1) Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Pau, Digne; Onana, Kamara; Guessand, Rogers, McGinn; Watkins.
Subs: Bizot, Maatsen, Lindelof, Mings, Bogarde, Barkley, Sancho, Malen, Broggio.
Referee Stuart Attwell.
Updated at 14.56 EDT
Andy Hunter
Arne Slot has said the Liverpool hierarchy share his views on the reasons for the team’s slump and he will not abandon an attacking style in search of a way out. The head coach admitted that six defeats in seven games was unacceptable before Aston Villa’s visit on Saturday and denied making excuses for Liverpool’s worst domestic run in 72 years.
Slot accepted the pressure was on before his makeshift team exited the Carabao Cup against Crystal Palace on Wednesday. That pressure to arrest the slide, however, is not, he insisted, coming from Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, FSG’s chief executive of football, Michael Edwards, or the sporting director, Richard Hughes, after a summer transfer outlay of almost £450m.
SharePreamble
In a dim, distant past – five and a bit weeks ago – Liverpool were top of the Premier League, 12 points clear of 18th-placed Aston Villa. Now the two clubs are level on points, snuggled together in mid-table.
Villa’s recovery is a reminder that things change very quickly in football; that bad patches are almost unavoidable and you just have to ride them out. Easier said than done, especially when you:
a) are the reigning champions
b) are one of the biggest clubs in the world
c) spent eye-watering wonga in the summer and
d) exist in a culture that has gone completely mad
The good news for Arne Slot is that there’s a simple solution: if Liverpool win tonight, the bloodlustful masses will look elsewhere. At least until the next game.
Kick off 8pm.