Saturday’s tea-time kick off at Villa Park sees Paul Lambert’s vibrant Aston Villa host Liverpool in what should be a highly entertaining contest. Both sides like to attack with speedy incisive passing moves; as witnessed when Villa counter-attacked Arsenal last weekend in their 3-1 win, and when the teams met last term, with both games ending in over 2.5 goals being scored.
Liverpool seem to have added more thrust and forward momentum with the addition of Iago Aspas as a supporting striker to Daniel Sturridge, playing in his favoured position at the moment due to the absence of Suarez. The increasing maturity of the clever and creative, Phillipe Coutinho, allied with the direct pace and penetrativeness of the still raw, Raheem Sterling, has given the Mighty Reds a sharper attacking edge, as they showed in the 20+ shots they had on goal in the 1-0 win over Stoke.
Brendan Rodgers’ philosophy of patient, possession football still applies but on Saturday they’ll be up against a Villa side who will play quite aggressively against them and so it will be this high-tempo style that dictates the way the match is played. As Villa showed on Wednesday night versus Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, where they should have come away with at least one point, they are not deterred when going 1-0 down and will always fight back from losing positions as they proved last season.
Lambert took a gamble last year, in trying to mould a very young English based team, and they were nearly relegated, but the gamble has now paid off because the team has gelled in spirit and in understanding on the pitch. In Christian Benteke they also have a man who will get the team at least 25 goals this term, and when you add this to all their other qualities, they could be one of the surprise packages of the season.
I’d expect their to be plenty of chances and excitement in this one, and I’d go for the Over 2.5 goals bet at 1.85 Euro odds or 17/20.
Recommend Bet
Aston Villa v Liverpool, Saturday, 24 Aug 2013, 17:30
50 points over 2.5 goals, best odds 1.85 @ LadbrokesÂ
