Star BACK in, midfielder DROPPED, HUGE Diaz decision: Predicted Liverpool lineup vs Aston Villa

Liverpool host Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday evening. Arne Slot’s side hope to continue their magnificent run of form.

Liverpool go into this one on the back of a 4-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen. It was arguably the Reds’ best performance of the season so far.

Aston Villa, in contrast, lost 1-0 to Club Brugge in their UEFA Champions League fixture. They’ve also had one day less rest than their hosts.

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In other words, Liverpool are massive favourites here. So what will Arne Slot do?

Here’s our predicted lineup for Liverpool vs Aston Villa at Anfield.

Tsimikas vs Robertson

This is one of the most interesting battles at Liverpool right now. Kostas Tsimikas appears to have usurped his senior teammate in the XI after a long, long wait.

He was the pick in Slot’s team against Leverkusen and it feels as though the spot could be his to lose right now.

So with Villa standing as one of the best teams in the Premier League these days, it feels very possible that Tsimikas gets the nod. We just don’t think he will.

Robertson surely hasn’t fallen so far out of favour that he wouldn’t get in even as the fresher man. We think Slot will opt for the Scot after his midweek rest and reinstate him.

The midfield battle

This one rages on. Ryan Gravenberch is the only certainty in midfield, with the other two spots up for grabs.

Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai are available for them. The Argentine is there for the deeper midfield role, while the Hungarian can play the no.10.

But Jones’s ability to play both makes him a threat to each. His form means he probably should start, too. Villa’s physical midfield calls for him, too - the Gravenberch/Jones partnership is one that can dominate.

We think they’ll play the deeper roles, with a fresh Szoboszlai coming in as the 10.

Diaz changed everything

There’s a lot of reasons to bring Darwin Nunez back into the XI for this. He’s fresh, after all, having started the Leverkusen clash on the bench.

But it feels as though Slot stumbled across something brilliant against Leverkusen. Luis Diaz though the middle, Cody Gakpo out left, and Mohamed Salah on the right.

The Colombian scored a hattrick, Gakpo got one himself, and Salah supplied a goal for each. As much as we love Darwin - surely we’ve got to run this back?

(4-2-1-3): Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Jones; Szoboszlai; Salah, Diaz, Gakpo

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