Liverpool are inscrutably trying to avoid a fifth Premier League defeat in a row, but how capable is Aston Villa of causing them more misery?
The Reds’ title defense is in danger of ending in a whimper before November has even started after a terrible run of form.
On Saturday evening, Liverpool welcomed Villa to Anfield, with Unai Emery’s side underlining their reputation with a 1-0 win at home to Man City last weekend.
With kick-off fast approaching, we spoke to Villans fan and writer Frankie Maguire (@FrankieMaguire) to discuss a big game for both sides, including the main battles.
How happy are you with Aston Villa’s start to the season?
The season started unusually poorly, with no goals in our first four games.
It felt like there was a hangover from the dreadful loss to Man United on the final day of last season, which cost the club the Champions League, and the subsequent transfer window in which Aston Villa was severely restricted in their spending by UEFA sanctions.
But playing in Europe has given Villa momentum again, and since the opening Europa League win against Bologna we have enjoyed a fantastic run of six wins in seven.
The cobwebs have been completely shaken off after two excellent wins over Tottenham and Man City, and now the fanbase can dream of challenging for European places again.
Which three players stood out the most? Has anyone had any trouble?
John McGinn was a totemic figure at times and scored the winner against Bologna which helped lift the club out of its slump.
His hold-up play, smart passing and leadership are crucial.
Boubacar Kamara has performed as his usual sensational self, and Matty Cash is in the form of his life.
Emi Buendia also looked excellent, but unfortunately suffered a pretty nasty injury against City.
The key figure, however, is Pau Torres.
His return to defense midway through the home win over Fulham has added his brilliant passing range from deep and changed the way Villa attack and retain the ball at the back.
His ballplay from deep was necessary as the influential Youri Tielemans was injured for most of the season.
How has Harvey Elliott fared since being loaned out?
A very strange case. It’s hard to know exactly what’s going on.
Harvey Elliott is clearly a very talented player, but the role he played for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool doesn’t really exist within Villa’s system.
Therefore, he always had to adapt to a new role, which would likely be number 10 – a key position in Emery’s setup.
He played as the 10 against Fulham, but wasn’t quite on the same page as a few other players.
Emery also criticized him for trying to rush passes against Sunderland, and surprisingly he was left out of the squad entirely for the City match.
It is clear that Emery feels Elliott needs time to adapt, and this could be the same case of ‘tough love’ that the manager gave Tielemans when he first started at Villa.
The noise around the training ground suggests Elliott is well-liked and has a good attitude.
We’ll find out more about where Elliott is going with Villa in November and December.
One really good performance will make everyone forget this strange start to his Villa career.
What is the main goal for this season?
The aim should be to push hard for the Champions League places in the Premier League and use our recent European experiences to dive deep into the Europa League.
This group of players have shown they can make top four and Champions League football – beating several top sides in Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, City, Arsenal and more.
They should try to use those experiences to build something special.
How do you rate Liverpool’s start to the season?
Bizarre, bordering on disastrous.
There were early warning signs in the win at Bournemouth that Liverpool had defensive problems on the counter, but winning several games in a row gave the impression that Arne Slot’s side would find a way to overcome their shortcomings and move on.
It is therefore shocking to see how many losses the Reds have suffered since then.
The incredible Mo Salah doesn’t look at his best, while Virgil Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate look much shakier than usual.
Villa discovered early last season that you can’t keep winning games with exciting late winners in back and forth matches.
Your luck will eventually run out, and perhaps there’s some sort of new defensive form that Slot will have to incorporate soon to stop giving in.
What is the Reds’ main problem at the moment?
The defensive shortcomings are clear and echo what Jamie Carragher told Slot in a post-match interview at the start of the season.
Liverpool are surprisingly open on the counter and it is raising questions about whether the club should have prioritized a defensive signing during a summer of big spending.
A few talismanic players are not looking good, and new signings such as Florian Wirtz will take time to get into bed.
The challenge is that many of these players are signed for huge amounts of money, so the pressure on them to perform immediately is high.
That said, Hugo Ekitike looks fantastic.
From the outside it seems like a challenging situation, but one that this coach and talented group of players can certainly work through.
Where will the main battles take place this weekend?
The main battle could take place in the central area. Amadou Onana and Kamara are physically strong players and good on the ball.
If they can repeat their City performance in the tough Anfield atmosphere and give Liverpool’s central players little space to operate in, Villa could have some fun as a defensive unit and look for moments to exploit the space open to counter-attacks.
If Liverpool leave space when pressing against Villa’s ball-playing defenders, the likes of Morgan Rogers and possibly Jadon Sancho could cause problems.
Slot’s team will also have to find a way to cut off Torres’ passing options.
Liverpool will almost certainly be the attacking team, so some battles to watch could be Onana or Kamara Wirtz or Dominik Szoboszlai following suit.
Lucas Digne one-on-one against Salah will be a key match.
Cody Gakpo or Ekitike coming in from the left for Liverpool against Cash is another area to keep an eye on, with the Villa right-back likely to need support from Kamara to put those runs in.
Finally, what is your prediction?
I don’t know a single Villa fan who looks at an out-of-form Liverpool with anything other than concern.
In the past, this is exactly the kind of scenario we haven’t shown up for.
The Anfield crowd will rally to their side and Villa will likely have to survive an early attack.
If we can do that, we can slowly work our way through the game and take advantage of opportunities when they arise.
There’s a big part of me that thinks this will end up being a 3-1 win for Liverpool, with Ekitike grabbing a few, but I’m going to try to be optimistic and say a 2-2 draw.
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