prem preview: aston villa-liverpool
what: premier league
who: aston villa (11th, epl, 2006-07) v liverpool (3rd, epl, 2006-07)
when: saturday, 11th august, 2007, kick off 17:15 local (bst)
where: villa park, birmingham
liverpool look to break the trend of being notorious slow starters under benitez.
liverpool know if they are to challenge for the premiership title this year they can ill afford to drop points at the beginning of the season. in recent seasons liverpool have dropped points early on and have languished below chelsea and manchester united.
rafa benitez has emphasised the importance of a strong start to the league. benitez has approached pre-season matches as if they were crucial games, often getting agitated on the touchline. after the outlay of nearly 50 million pounds the liverpool fans and the board are likely to expect to see some improvement in the league this season. a realistic title challenge is seen as a minimum.
is this a squad now capable of winning the league?
the acquisition of torres represents the first major signing liverpool has been able to pull off. with this excitement, comes expectation, “el nino” as he is known in spain is expected to be the first liverpool player since robbie fowler to score 20 league goals in a season.
whether he can do this, only time will tell, but to put his task into perspective; liverpool’s top scorer in the league last year was dirk kuyt who managed 12 league goals. the return to fitness of kewell is another bonus for the reds. this is the first pre-season he has gone through for two years. though he is a player that attracts a lot of debate amongst liverpool fans, benitez’s faith in him has never wavered, often picking him to play in finals. t
he acquisitions of ryan babel and yossi benayoun should see gerrard utilised more in his favoured position of central midfield. however, guessing who his partner will be will have to be left up to benitez. liverpool have an abundance of central midfielders in mascherano, sissoko, alonso and lucas. i am unsure how he will be able to keep all these players happy through his squad rotation.
is villa’s squad strong enough?
villa will be looking to start the season well like they did last year. martin o’neill, so often the thorn in liverpool’s side in his leicester days, will hope he has now assembled a squad to deal with the rigours of a long season and sustain a high position in the league. at the moment he has only made two signings, nigel reo-coker and marlon harewood. villa fans have been disappointed with the lack of transfer activity, but they should not be too concerned as ashley young now has a season under his belt and is coming back off impressive displays for england in the u21 european championships. john carew will also be better after his transfer to villa in january. slight concerns are probably justified if they are centred on the defensive areas. martin laursen has suffered an injury-plagued stint ever since his transfer from ac milan. the sale of liam ridgewell has left villa short in the centre back position. so i would expect martin o’neill to be looking for cover in that area before the transfer deadline. thomas sorensen is out for probably the first month of the season, and if rumours are to be believed villa could be on the verge of securing scott carson on a year-long loan. however, any agreement would prevent him from playing against the reds.
can villa break the jinx?
aston villa have claimed just four points from the last 27 available in home premier league matches against liverpool. they have not beaten them at villa park since stan collymore scored a brace in a 2-1 triumph on 28 february 1998. liverpool hold an 11 match unbeaten league record of seven wins and four draws over villa - their last defeat being a 1-3 reverse at anfield on 8 september 2001.
form guide
aston villa
aug 7th walsall (a) drew 1-1 (friendly)
aug 4th inter (h) won 3-0 (friendly)
aug 1st stoke city (a) won 2-0 (friendly)
july 29th columbus crew (a) won 3-1 (friendly)
july 26th toronto fc (a) won 4-2 (friendly)
liverpool
aug 5th feyenoord (a) drew 1-1 (friendly)
aug 3rd shanghai shenhua (a) won 2-0 (friendly)
july 27th portsmouth (a) drew 0-0 (friendly)
july 24th south china (a) won 3-1 (friendly)
july 20th auxerre (a) won 2-0 (friendly)
july 17th werder bremen (a) won 3-2 (friendly)
team news
aston villa
villa go into this match in good health with their only noticeable absentee being thomas sorensen whose place in goal will be filled by stuart taylor. patrik berger will hope to be in the team to face his former club. expect villa to play with a three-pronged attack often deployed by themselves last season.
squad (taylor, barry, cahill, laursen, mellberg, delaney, bouma, o’halloran, berger, petrov, reo-coker, gardner, osbourne, maloney, young, carew, harewood, moore, agbonlahor)
liverpool
the reds have no fresh injury worries and rafa should have a full squad to pick from. the only absentee is new signing sebastian leto, the club is currently still working on securing the argentine an italian passport. record signing torres is expected to make his debut for the reds.
squad ( reina, carson, finnan, riise, arbeloa, carragher, hyypia, agger, sissoko, mascherano, alonso, lucas, gerrard, benayoun, babel, kewell, pennant, voronin, kuyt, crouch, torres)
players to watch
aston villa
john carew will cause any defence problems with his size and strength; he will look to shackle carragher and agger.
liverpool
all eyes will be fixed on fernando torres as he makes his debut.
prediction
aston villa 1 – 2 liverpool
i fancy liverpool to win this tight affair; they have a very good record against villa and they will be under immense pressure to win the first match of the season. villa although a very strong attacking force still remain weak defensively. i expect liverpool to exploit this.
seye olufunwa
