Liverpool vs. Aston Villa – English Premier League, April 10, 2021

Liverpool’s current EPL predicament looks even more worrying after losing to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday. The champions remain outside the European places and desperately need to win some more games quickly.

There has been a turnaround in fortune recently. Still, Jurgen Klopp will know that three points from Villa at home on Saturday is crucial.

Liverpool’s two recent victories have obviously provided BetOnline with enough confidence to make its odds on favorite to win this one this weekend.

Since the middle of December, the champions haven’t won at home in the league, so the draw bet might be of some interest.

Beating Wolves and Arsenal away from home in the last two EPL games shows that Liverpool has not given up the hope of a top-four finish this season. But even those victories – both won without conceding a goal – have not been enough to catapult the side into the European places.

There are still plenty of absentees for Jurgen Klopp to deal with, of course. But he was able to play Fabinho in his preferred midfield position against Arsenal last weekend – and the result was largely down to his dominance there. The forwards look to have reclaimed a little confidence now as well, so another win could be expected.

Dean Smith will be confident in his Aston Villa side as well, though.

It had looked as though it was about to give Fulham a huge boost in its hopes of staying up last weekend with just over ten minutes to play. Ultimately, three goals right at the end of that game made the scoreline much happier reading for Villa fans – and gave the club its first victory since the end of February.

His creative influence has been sorely missed, and Liverpool might not give Villa the same kinds of chances as Fulham did last weekend.

If other results go Liverpool’s way this weekend, Liverpool could actually climb back into the top four with a win here. So the crisis of not qualifying for the Champions League is far from assured quite yet.

Klopp knows that he needs to oversee some more winning performances, though – and this should be one of them.