It seems the dire warnings of life without their attacking duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were painfully accurate for Liverpool after a painful display against the 10-manArsenal. The Reds play host to Brentford on Sunday while Manchester United travels to play Aston Villa for the second time in less than one week. You can live-bet on the Premier League and take advantage of the best prices in the industry by using our sportsbook.
Aston Villa vs. Man United: Goal-fest
Aston Villa will be on a revenge mission when they meet Manchester United at Villa Park on Saturday. They lost against the Red Devils 1-0 in the FA Cup on Monday with Scott McTominay scoring the winning goal. Aston Villa looks better under new manager Steven Gerrard, but it enters this clash on the back of two Premier League defeats in row, against Chelsea and Brentford.
The hosts are priced at +195 on the three-way moneyline according to the latest soccer odds. Villa has shown its intent by bringing Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne to the club during the January window, and there is no question that Gerrard will be targeting a top-half finish. Aston Villa has won seven, drawn one and lost 11 of its 19 league games, earning 22 points, but they are only three points behind 10th-place Leicester City.
They managed to beat United 1-0 in the reverse match at Old Trafford and we expect them to put on another great fight against the Red Devils. Unfortunately, they lost five of their last seven games across all competitions and their confidence level is not that high. They will be without the services of Leon Bailey and Marvelous Nakamba through injury while key midfielder John McGinn is suspended. Bertrand Traore and Trezeguet will also miss this clash due to their involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Aston Villa is not the correct team to be included in our soccer picks and parlays so we will avoid a bet on the winners’ market. That doesn’t mean that they won’t play their chance and pull off an upset. Gerrard is a smart manager and he will know how to motivate his players.
On the other side, Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo is expecting to be available despite a hip complaint, while Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho, Diogo Dalot and Phil Jones are also fully fit and ready to help their team. The visitors are struggling to post clean sheets, recording just four in 19 Premier League games. On the other side, Villa contributed on the scoreboard in 16 of their 19 EPL fixtures and we expect them once again to find the back of the net.
Pick: Over 2½ goals (-115)
Liverpool vs. Brentford: Tough Game for Reds
The absence of Salah and Mane was really felt for the first time by Liverpool on Thursday as it failed to break down an Arsenal side who played with nine pitch players for 70 minutes after Granit Xhaka was red-carded after just 24 minutes.
What’s more concerning is that they recorded just one shot on target with Diogo Jota, Minamino and Roberto Firmino struggling to receive good balls in the opposition box. Once again, they are expected to lead the attacking line with Divock Origi injured. Youngster Kaide Gordon may also be in Klopp’s thoughts following a brilliant performance from the 17-year-old in the 4-1 victory over Shrewsbury in the FA Cup last weekend.
They have no choice but to find a way of improving their conversion rate if they want to add three more points to their season tally and close the gap on the top spots. Leaders Manchester City will play second-place Chelsea so one or both of them will drop points this weekend, meaning that Liverpool might leapfrog the Blues in the standings or close the gap on the Citizens. If you’re betting online, you should know that Liverpool’s games are all about goals, but this time we will fade that. The goal line is set at three and we don’t expect more than two in this clash.
Liverpool failed to find the back of the net across all competitions only twice this season, but both games took place in the last three weeks. In less than one month, the Champions League will be back with the knockout stages so Liverpool should solve these issues. The game against Brentford is the perfect opportunity for the Reds to return to winning ways in the Premier League after dropping five points in their previous two EPL games.
