Prediction & odds for the game: Aston Villa (23/10) v Liverpool (21/20) – ST is backing the home win

When: Friday, 8th January @ 7.45pm K.O

Where: Villa Park

Aston Villa and Liverpool will battle it out on Friday night for the right to compete in the fourth round of this year’s FA Cup.

Aston Villa

There’s a real momentum building at Villa Park right now and the influence of Dean Smith in that operation cannot be understated. The club is starting to thrive in ways that many would’ve thought was unthinkable back at the start of 2020, and that’s a testament to the resolve within both the fanbase and the management. Whether or not they can keep that trend going remains to be seen but the early signs this season are good.

The 2-1 loss to Manchester United on New Year’s Day was tough to stomach, but aside from that, Aston Villa have been looking good throughout the month of December. A 0-0 draw against Burnley was somewhat disappointing but big wins over Wolves, West Brom and Crystal Palace, as well as a draw against Chelsea, helped to calm any nerves.

Liverpool

Liverpool are in the midst of a really tough patch of form and while there’s reason to believe they can bounce back in their next few Premier League games, the FA Cup poses an interesting dilemma for them. Some fans want to see them really go for it in an attempt to win the competition for the first time in 15 years, but others really want to see Jurgen Klopp put all of his eggs into the ‘retaining the Premier League’ basket.

The draw against Fulham was perhaps a warning of things to come for Liverpool, even if they did manage to beat Tottenham and Crystal Palace. They proceeded to drop points against West Brom and Newcastle in surprising draws before a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Southampton.

Conclusion

We’ve already seen this story unfold once before – Liverpool rotate massively in a cup game against Aston Villa and suffer the consequences as a result. We believe Villa, who have already battered the Reds this season in the Premier League, will take this game far more seriously and the result will reflect that. We expect Liverpool to put up a decent fight but we don’t think they’ll progress to the next round, ensuring that the Midlanders are the ones who take one step closer to Wembley.

Our official scoreline prediction is going to be 3-2 Aston Villa, meaning we hit the over 2.5 goals bracket – and regardless of the teams that are put out, this is bound to be a fun showdown.

Verdict: Back the home win at odds of 23/10 and the over 2.5 goals scored at odds of 4/7 (All odds are taken from bet365).

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If you want to bet on Aston Villa vs Liverpool then head on over to the betting page. Alternatively, you can check out some of the other available fixtures at the soccer predictions page as we continue through the journey of this season’s FA Cup.