The Merseyside club host the Birmingham club for the final match of the day on Saturday in what is set to be a brilliant match between two managers who have made fantastic starts to this season’s campaigns.

Arne Slot had a historic start to his Liverpool career as head coach with sixteen matches played, fourteen wins, one defeat and one draw. The best start for any manager in their first season in Premier League history, beating Jose Mourinho and his move to Chelsea. Liverpool currently have a twelve-game unbeaten streak, and in that time they have drawn just one and won eleven games. Their last defeat in all competitions dates back to September 14, against Nottingham Forest who currently occupy 3rd place in the Premier League table, a real surprise of the season.

Unai Emry has also started very well, in a season where many thought Aston Villa might struggle to return to the UEFA Champions League, it has been quite the opposite. Emry’s side have lost just one game in their European campaign, their most recent, and before this week they sat top of the competition table. Similarly, in the Premier League, they have lost only one of their last five league matches, the most recent. They currently occupy 6th position.

Liverpool

Liverpool are currently without Alisson Becker (hamstring), Harvey Elliott (foot), Diogo Jota (ribs) and Federico Chiesa (muscle) for this weekend’s match.

Villa Aston

Aston Villa are currently without Matty Cash (Calf) and Ross Barkley (Muscle) for this weekend’s match.

Liverpool – (4-2-3-1)

GK: Caoimhin Kelleher – Kelleher continued his excellent stint in the absence of Alisson Becker, with a magnificent double save midweek against Bayer Leverkusen to keep the clean sheet, having had little to do for most of the match . He will need to be ready and able for this game with the likes of Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Jhon Durán always looking to waste a clean sheet.

RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – Trent has been frustrated over the last few games, while still being solid defensively, and some would argue that in refuting the “Trent can’t defend” morons, his passing, his main strength, one assumes, has been massively below average. Hopefully he can get his offensive game back up to speed as he will have to contend with Jacob Ramsey on the defensive side of the ball.

CB: Ibrahima Konaté – Ibou has had an exceptional season, thanks in large part to Arne Slot, who has brought the best out of the French defender this season. He faced a massive physical test in midweek against Victor Boniface, a monster of a human and Konaté didn’t seem phased at all. Another physical task this weekend against Ollie Watkins.

CB: Virgil van Dijk – Virgil dominated his area in spectacular fashion during the last clash with Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League. Tasked with commanding his back line against one of the most in-form strikers in Europe at the moment, Florian Wirtz, who was largely nullified for most of the match with little to no impact beyond the first twenty minutes. Expect him to make sure Watkins and Rogers are just as quiet this game.

CEO: Konstantinos Tsimikas – Kostas is coming off two very solid starts at left-back, with Andy Robertson still trying to improve his fitness at first-team level we expect to see the Greek Scouser back in the starting line-up. He’s making it harder and harder to let him down with each performance, and until Robbo can return to full fitness, it seems like this is Kostas’ position to lose.

MDP – Ryan Gravenberch – One of the best ball-carriers and press-resistant players in the Premier League right now, Ryan Gravenberch is emerging as not just a flash in the pan, but the real deal. We have simply become numb to his performance. If Ryan Gravenberch had been drafted this summer instead of last summer, his cheers would be much bigger and his performance would be much greater.

CDM: Curtis Jones – Curtis has been one of the brightest spots among the bright spots this season. I’ve been one of his biggest critics this season. I’ve been quoted as saying that the only reason he’s still been in the team for so long, despite no noticeable improvement in his game, is because he’s Scouse. How wrong he has proven me this season so far. What’s even more shocking is that in almost half the number of minutes Jude Bellingham has, Curtis has almost doubled his goal contribution this season. Yes, I had to Google it too, but it’s true. And with a fantastic midweek performance, I think he deserves another start before heading to the England camp for his first senior call-up. Well deserved.

CAM: Alexis Mac Allister – With Curtis Jones positioned behind the double pivot, this would allow Mac Allister to move forward and use his passing abilities to further link up our striker. Dominik Szoboszlai was involved in press and off-ball work, but he lacked linking play between the double pivot and the attackers. This could allow us to unlock this last phase of the game even more.

AD: Mohamed Salah – Salah has lit the spotlight with his goals and creations so far this season, returning eighteen goals in sixteen games. Salah led our attack with Luis Diaz matching the goal tally. Expect him to have even more influence this weekend.

ST: Darwin Nunez – Darwin has essentially transformed into Bobby Firminho this season with the recurring numbers on how to press, pass and link play, a radical reversal from what the Uruguayan was last season. His efficiency has exploded in terms of goals scored, which may surprise some, but his conversion rate this season has more than doubled to 25% from just 10.68% last season. We owe credit to coaching and system change, as they seem to have contained and controlled the chaos that is Darwin.

AG: Luis Diaz – Hat-trick hero Lucho played as a number 9 in the match against Leverkusen and scored two goals from that position and his final from the left position. This might be the toughest decision to make on the pitch since Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz could start this match, but you can’t let down the man who just scored a hat-trick in their last match, even with the impressive Cody. all season.

Aston Villa – (4-4-1-1)

Emiliano Martinez; Ezri Konsa; Diego Carlos; Paul Torres; Lucas Digne; John McGinn; Amadou Onana; Yours Tielemans; Jacob Ramsey; Morgan Rogers; Ollie Watkins

Mohamed Salah – 16 assists, 9 goals, 9 assists

Salah has been the focal point of Liverpool’s attack this season, scoring and assisting for fun this season. Some may say he is in charge of the Ballon D’or this year with his production. Expect him to be one of the main contributors in tomorrow night’s game with both his creation of opportunities for himself and others, and his ability to score a goal out of nothing.

Ollie Watkins – 14 assists, 5 goals, 3 assists

While Watkins’ numbers so far this season don’t necessarily tell the whole story, he remains one of the best strikers in the Premier League. With twenty-seven goals and thirteen assists in all competitions last season, the man is a goal-scoring machine and can leave at any time. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté will need to be awake and alert to ensure Watkins has a quiet night.

Anfield, Liverpool

8:00 p.m. GMT

Referee: David Coote. Assistants: Timothy Wood, Craig Taylor. Fourth official: Sam Allison. VAR: Paul Tierney. Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis.

Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa