Liverpool vs Aston Villa

Liverpool once again failed to get a resounding victory when they face League Two side Carlisle at Anfield in the League Cup on Wednesday. The away side took them to extra time and penalties, and it was only thanks to some good goalkeeping from Adam Bogdan that they are still in the competition.

This followed back to back draws against Bordeaux and Norwich, which in turn followed back to back defeats against West Ham and Manchester United.

In fact, they haven’t won since their unimpressive 1-0 victory over Bournemouth in their second game of the season, and this came after an equally unimpressive 1-0 win over Stoke.

The pressure is piling up on Brendan Rodgers, and you have to think that another poor result would seal his fate.

Injuries won’t make it easy for the home side either. Christian Benteke probably won’t get to face his former club thanks to injury, and Kolo Toure, Jordan Henderson, Joe Allen, Jon Flanagan, and Dejan Lovren are also likely to miss out.

Villa have some problems of their own, with Adama Traore, Idrissa Gueye, Jose Crespo, and Jores Okore all struggling for fitness.

Aston Villa managed to get a much needed confidence boost in their League Cup clash against fierce rivals Birmingham. It was a fiery occasion with little in the way of attractive football on show, but Villa still came away with a 1-0 victory.

But they haven’t won in the Premier League since the opening day of the season, and have lost four of their five games following that to leave their points tally on a disappointing four.

Their performances haven’t been as bad as the results suggest though, and I think they’re due a bit of luck in the league. I think they’ll get something from this match against a Liverpool side who have been shockingly bad at home recently, and odds of 13/8 for an Aston Villa Win or Draw Double Chance look very attractive.