Aston Villa head into tonight’s Premier League fixture with Liverpool desperate to get back to winning ways in front of their adoring Villa Park faithful.
Last time out, Unai Emery‘s men picked up a flat point versus relegation-threatened Ipswich Town on their own patch, with the result made to look even more bleak by the fact the Tractor Boys managed to pick up that point despite only having ten men for all of the second 45 minutes.
Even with Liverpool currently showing some chinks in their armour with a Merseyside Derby draw and a slim win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, Villa will know they’ll need to be at their best to exploit the Reds’ rustiness, especially if Mohamed Salah is at his frightening peak.
Salah’s unbelievable form this season
Indeed, even with the Egyptian ace hitting 32 years of age and worrying about his long-term Anfield future, the tricky attacker is having the campaign of his life.
Staggeringly, Salah boasts a whopping 28 goals and 19 assists in all competitions this season so far, with a large portion of those goal contributions – 37 to be exact – coming in the bread and butter of the top flight.
|
Salah’s G/A record – last five games in all competitions |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Game |
Result |
Goals scored |
Assists |
|
Wolves (H) |
2-1 W |
1 |
0 |
|
Everton (A) |
2-2 D |
1 |
1 |
|
Tottenham (H) |
4-0 W |
1 |
1 |
|
Bournemouth (A) |
2-0 W |
2 |
0 |
|
Ipswich (H) |
4-1 W |
1 |
0 |
|
Stats by Sofascore |
|||
Scoring and assisting in some capacity across his high-flying side’s last five matches too, Villa will know they will have to keep the enigmatic Salah quiet all night long to try and pick up a result and sour Arne Slot’s mood even more.
Emery might well even have his own Salah up his sleeve for this Wednesday night affair, with the star in question equally comfortable playing on the right wing but when putting his golden left foot to good use.
Aston Villa could unleash their answer to Salah
Villa certainly were the talk of the town after an explosive end to the hectic transfer window saw them welcome in Axel Disasi, Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio all on loan deals.
Whilst Disasi is likely to start again in the centre-back areas, there is a shout that Asensio could be handed a start down the right wing to spring a surprise on Slot and Co, who might well be anticipating Rashford jumping into the XI after he clattered the crossbar against Ipswich.
Instead, the “unbelievable” Spaniard – as he has been labelled in the past by football talent scout Antonio Mango – might be given the nod to try and cause havoc to a Liverpool defence that gave up 16 shots to Wolves, with a fierce strike like this one in the ex-Real Madrid man’s wheelhouse.
After all, when donning the famous Los Blancos strip, Asensio would help himself to a stunning 61 goals and 32 assists from 286 games, further reinforcing the notion of the 29-year-old being a star for the big occasion and why he should start against the table-toppers late on.
His debut in claret and blue also saw a confident Asensio take to the pressures of the English game well, with many a trick and flick well executed, alongside walking away from the FA Cup win versus Spurs with a 100% pass accuracy in-tact.
A real threat off the right flank, like Salah, the comparison between the pair – as well as Rashford – has only recently been made by Emery himself:
“Salah is unique, he’s feeling confident and comfortable, playing decent football in his best moment. Marcus did it (in the past) and Marco Asensio did it as well. My challenge with them is to get the best from them. Each one has his qualities.”
Asensio could also link up well with the main Villa marksman Ollie Watkins who managed to push his side to a draw against the Tractor Boys with an equalising strike, alongside the fact the former Brentford sharpshooter has five career goals versus the Reds.
Emery will want to see a reaction from his underwhelming troops and there wouldn’t be a better way to respond than beating the league leaders in front of a packed Villa Park, courtesy of some Asensio magic.
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