Liverpool will take on Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday in the Premier League, and Mark Lawrenson has predicted a win for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
The last time the two sides met at Villa Park, Dean Smith’s side won 7-2 against a Reds team that featured first-choice central-defensive pairing Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
Since then, Liverpool have lost both players and Joel Matip, have conceded the title and are fighting to get into the Premier League top four.
Liverpool have won back-to-back league games against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Arsenal, but their home form has been awful.
They haven’t won a single game this year, losing six on the bounce at Anfield.
Lawrenson is absolutely spot on that Liverpool need to return to winning ways to boost their confidence ahead of the crucial Champions League quarter-final second leg clash against Real Madrid.
Liverpool are trailing 3-1 from the first-leg. They previously have won games by reducing big deficits (against Barcelona in 2018/19), and there’s no reason to believe why they can’t do it again.
But most importantly, the Reds must win every game from now to put themselves in a strong position for the top-four place in the Premier League.
Lawrenson told BBC Sport that he expects Liverpool to record a comfortable 2-0 victory over Villa.
“So, it would be huge for Jurgen Klopp’s side if they can take the three points at Anfield on Saturday – something they haven’t done in any of their past eight games there, since 16 December,” he said.
“A home win would get that monkey off their back ahead of the visit of Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday, but it is far more important in terms of keeping them in touch with the top four.”
In other news, check Liverpool’s predicted starting line-up vs Aston Villa.
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