Aston Villa vs. Liverpool: Tactical Preview of Premier League Game
Aston Villa host Liverpool this weekend in a match where fans have organised a planned protest. The crowd have vowed to delay the taking to their seats until the eighth minute as a stand against the Paul Lambert/Randy Lerner regime, and the Reds will be hoping to take full advantage of the turmoil surrounding the club.
Let's take a tactical look at this one, though, and see how it may play out from a strategic standpoint. Lambert often gets the better of Brendan Rodgers—can he pull off another upset?
Aston Villa Setup
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Aston Villa have, rightly or wrongly, been plagued by red cards of late. Four sending offs in the last six Premier League games has made it difficult for the team to pick up points.
Nathan Baker, fit again, per Physio Room, should come in to replace Ciaran Clark and partner Jores Okore, sealing the club's ninth different centre-back pairing of the season so far.
Fabian Delph returns from suspension and enters a midfield seriously lacking in creativity or movement. Christian Benteke, who is currently cutting a very frustrated figure, will be grateful for his presence.
Gabby Agbonlahor and Andi Weimann should flank a 4-3-3, with new signing Carles Gil probably restricted to a super-sub role for now. The fans would love to see Jack Grealish start, but they've given up hope of that happening. Joe Cole is injured.
Liverpool Setup
Brendan Rodgers' 3-4-2-1 formation has been clicking; Liverpool lost their first game using it 3-0 to Manchester United, but since then haven't lost and have been steadily climbing the table.
Fabio Borini has taken on the striker's mantle in the absence of the resting Raheem Sterling. He and Daniel Sturridge are back in training, and Rodgers will check on Sterling's readiness to start ahead of the game, per WhoScored.com.
Emre Can and Lucas Leiva, truly impressive at centre-back and defensive midfield respectively, should start again, with Steven Gerrard in with a shot of playing as one of the advanced midfielders again due to the absence of Adam Lallana.
Alberto Moreno is improving as a wing-back, while Lazar Markovic will take up a spot wherever he's needed—be it RWB, LWB or attacking midfield.
Key Point 1: Reds' Movement and Speed
Key to Liverpool's success here will be the speed at which they play.
Villa will sit in deep and play a compact game, frustrating the visitors wherever possible. If the Reds succumb to the pace of the game and begin knocking it around slowly, they'll struggle to break down a disciplined, dedicated low block.
That makes the overlaps of Moreno and Markovic, who need to hit the second and third levels early and often to open up angles, exceptionally important. Liverpool will need the width high up to get around and behind this formation, and perhaps it's possible to tempt Okore, who loves a challenge, into a mistake that leads to a penalty.
If they adopt a slow mantra and knock it around with a casual attitude—like so many teams do nowadays, quizzically—they'll only be shooting themselves in the foot.
Key Point 2: Agbonlahor vs. Liverpool
Gabby Agbonlahor loves playing Liverpool, and one of the reasons Lambert has been so successful against Rodgers is his use of the speedster off the flank.
There will be no Glen Johnson to torture this time around—last season, Johnson ended up pushing Agbonlahor over the advertising boards and injuring him just to stop him from torching him—but an attacking wing-back and an inexperienced centre-back (Can) instead.
As impressive as Can has been, Markovic will leave him isolated at times and this is the sort of matchup Agbonlahor can't wait to exploit. Villa won't have too much possession, but they will launch fierce counters through Agbonlahor and look to profit from them.
Once he's stretched the away side on the counter, myriad options for Benteke, Delph and Co. open up. It's up to Villa to find a clinical edge and finish some chances.
