Aston Villa Preview: Two Teams Moving in Opposite Directions
Although Liverpool have found themselves in a good run of form as of late, it’s still a bit too early to get excited about their climb up the table. The Reds go into tomorrow’s meeting with Aston Villa only five points out of the Champions League places, but competition remains stiff for a spot in Europe’s premier club competition — so, nothing new there.
Outside of the top two spots, there’s a points pile-up with at least six clubs realistically in the battle for third and fourth place. The traditional gap between the top and the bottom has started to narrow over the last couple of seasons and that trend has continued in earnest this year with the likes of Southampton and West Ham United mixing it up in the upper echelons of the table. A slow start to the campaign saw Brendan Rodgers side all but ruled out of the race, but a steady string of results is putting them back in the picture, though they’ll have to right some early season wrongs if they’re going to keep up the charge.
With an ominous nod to what was just around the corner, Liverpool could manage only a single shot on net when the Villains snagged all three points at Anfield back in September. Gabriel Agbonlahor’s early goal gave Paul Lambert’s side the lead back when things were looking good in the Midlands, but things, of course, have changed since then.
Despite Christian Benteke’s return to fitness, Villa have scored only seven more league goals since that win on Merseyside and their latest slump of six matches without a win has seen them plummet down the table to 13th place. Sitting less than a handful of points above the relegation zone is never an easy position for a manager to be in and the fans aren’t about to let him forget it with a number of websites banding together to organize a protest on Saturday, though a win against the Reds — something that wouldn’t exactly be out of the ordinary for them — could go a good way towards lifting spirits around Villa Park.
The addition of attacking midfielder Carles Gil, who was brought in from La Liga side Valencia earlier in the week, could also give them a much needed boost going forward. Lambert has confirmed that he could very well throw the 22-year old straight into the fray, but that will very much depend on whether or not he gets his international clearance in time to feature. While Lambert believes his creative spark can help get his side back on track again, it looks like his counterpart in Rodgers was thinking along the same lines — though the recall of youngster Jordon Ibe from his successful loan spell with Derby County is more to help keep the Reds on track now that they’ve found it again.
Unbeaten in their last five matches, Liverpool have started the slow climb up the table, but their position remains precarious when you couple their fixture congestion with a number of ongoing and long term injuries. Just over the horizon, they’ve got a two legged League Cup semi-final clash with Premier League pacesetters Chelsea sandwiching a FA Cup meeting with Championship side Bolton Wanderers. Although the Reds were given a boost with the news that Adam Lallana’s return from injury is ahead of schedule, a knock to Steven Gerrard’s hamstring, the slow rehabilitation of Daniel Sturridge and Joe Allen’s pesky knee problem means that there’s going to be a whole lot of tired legs in their future.
Rodgers has made adding a piece of silverware to the trophy cabinet one of his sides many targets this season, but the league remains the focus with securing Champions League football for the second consecutive season the main goal. Unfortunately, the Reds haven’t left themselves much wiggle room as we approach the business end of the season, but with Raheem Sterling returning from his short mid-season break refreshed and Lazar Markovic looking like a real threat in the Reds three pronged attack, we could very well keep these two clubs moving in different directions.
That is, if we can put a shot or two on net…
–Steven
