Chris Sutton has suggested that Unai Emery’s Aston Villa could ‘frustrate’ Liverpool at Anfield tomorrow but believes the Reds’ ‘great momentum’ at the moment will be enough to inspire them to their eight successive victory.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have experienced an upturn in form in recent weeks meaning they have a slim chance of securing a top four finish while Villa have European hopes of their own as they target a spot in either the Europa League or Europa Conference League.
The former Blackburn Rovers forward has tipped the Merseysiders to win both of their remaining games which means they will be ready to capitalise if Manchester United drop points during their final three games of the campaign.
“This feels like the kind of game where Aston Villa boss Unai Emery could go and set his team up to frustrate Liverpool and carry a threat on the counter,” Sutton wrote for BBC Sport.
“So, I am certainly not discounting Villa here, but Liverpool have such great momentum after winning their past seven games that I can’t see them stumbling. They will attack Villa, and they may even overwhelm them.
“The Reds play bottom side Southampton in their final game of the season so I am expecting them to finish on 71 points – they will need Newcastle or Manchester United to slip up to let them sneak into the top four.
“Liverpool 3-1 Aston Villa.”
Villa striker Ollie Watkins has been in red-hot form this season registering 20 goal contributions in 35 league games and he’ll be looking to add to that tally at L4 tomorrow.
Emery deserves huge credit for the job he’s done at Villa Park since replacing Steven Gerrard in October and a spot in European competition for the Villains next season would be a huge achievement.
Anfield will bid farewell to Bobby Firmino, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita tomorrow so it’s imperative that we can pick up all three points to ensure the atmosphere inside the ground is as good as possible following the full-time whistle.
Our performance against Leicester on Monday night was really impressive with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones the two standout performers so let’s hope for more of the same tomorrow to keep our top four hopes alive!