Gerrard’s ‘biggest problem’ tipped to spark Liverpool mauling and cost Villa shot at Anfield shock
Aston Villa’s defence is the “biggest problem” for manager Steven Gerrard and could cost him a true shot at stunning Anfield on his Liverpool return, according to Paul Merson.
The Liverpool legend makes his first trip back to his former club on Saturday, this time as a manager. He has had a fantastic impact since taking over at Villa, winning three of four matches.
Furthermore, his side have scored two in each of those wins. They also scored against Manchester City in their only defeat since Gerrard’s arrival.
At the other end of the pitch, though, they have struggled to put in convincing defensive displays. The two late goals against Brighton in Gerrard’s first match came after Seagulls dominance.
Furthermore, Villa had to come from behind to win 2-1 against Leicester last time out.
Liverpool struggled to break down Wolves’ stern defence in their last game until Divock Origi’s last-minute winner. Before then, though, the Reds had scored 14 goals and conceded only one in four games.
As such, Merson predicted that Gerrard could struggle to take a point from Anfield on his return.
“Aston Villa will cause Liverpool a few problems along the way this weekend, but will their defense turn up?” Merson wrote for his Sportskeeda column.
“Steven Gerrard’s biggest problem at the moment is consistency – can they step up for a full 90 minutes? They managed it against Crystal Palace, but not against Brighton and Leicester.
“Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane played 60 minutes in what effectively was a dead rubber in the Champions League, and fair play to them.
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“Who wouldn’t want to play at the San Siro? I think Liverpool have too much quality for Aston Villa and should be able to win this game.”
Both managers insisted in their pre-match press briefings that while there is big sentiment around the fixture, they will be professional and only go after the three points.
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Klopp said of Villa’s form since Gerrard took over: “None of these four games were against us, so that’s what we want to bring in.
“Stevie might say there are no sentiments, but from our point of view there are sentiments. We love Stevie, but that doesn’t mean anything around this game.
“We are all professionals as well and we will go with all we have. Stevie can get the best reception in the world, but in the 95 minutes, we need everybody behind us.”
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