Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool host Aston Villa on Saturday in the Premier League, hoping to secure another all important win that will take them close to the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Swansea City and Arsenal in the upper half of the table as they look to fight it out for a European position. After their exploits in the UEFA Europa League, barely managing to scrape through into the Round of 32, Rodgers will be hoping his boys give the Premier League their best shot after an extremely slow start to the season. But he will also know that Aston Villa will be no pushovers as they will be riding high on confidence after thumping Norwich City in the League Cup quarter finals.

Moreover, the way they performed against Manchester United a few weeks back and took 2-0 lead just minutes after half time added an extra zeal of confidence to the side and it is almost certain that the side has it in them to give Liverpool a run for their money. Liverpool will be missing Uruguayan hit man Luis Suarez for this match through suspension and with the absence of their talismanic striker, Liverpool will be hoping they can dig deep and find enough goals to seal the match and not have their hearts in their mouths as happened against West Ham United last weekend.

Considering the fact that West Ham is a far better side that Villa and Liverpool came back from 2-1 down to beat them 3-2 away from home, there is no room for complacency for the Liverpool players and especially the manager who has seen his side succumb in the oddest of circumstances this season.
Liverpool has been a very hit and miss side this season and their inconsistency is something that will worry the manager and coaching staff, as they look at the January transfer window to get the right players to get the whole team performing like a well oiled machine.

The team might even look at Darren Bent, who will line up for Villa as a possible target but there might not be many chances for them to get a look at the England striker if Paul Lambert persists with his ego of not playing the most experienced attacker in his side. Still, Liverpool have a job on their hands and their performance on the night will determine many of the players’ fate.