Liverpool vs Villa - Matt Maher preview

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon from Bodemoor Heath where Unai Emery has held his press conference ahead of tomorrow night's game at Liverpool.

00:09Eight o'clock kick-off on Merseyside, not too many of us happy with that one.

00:15Villa looking to end a run of three straight defeats in all competitions.

00:21Their joint worst run since Unai Emery took charge two years ago

00:26and it's taken quite a bit of the momentum out of what was a really good start to the season.

00:32Liverpool, top of the league, the only team really who haven't had a blip so far

00:38in what's been a really kind of stop-start beginning to the season for a lot of teams.

00:45Unai Emery branding the Reds as clear favourites tomorrow night,

00:50thinks they're favourites to win the Premier League title under new boss Arne Slott.

00:56But Villa have a habit of pulling results out, pulling performances out,

01:00when they hit a bit of a downturn.

01:03I suppose it wouldn't be that much of a shock if they were to go and get a result on Merseyside tomorrow

01:08considering just what they've done under Unai Emery these last couple of years.

01:12Uri Tillerman's the one injury concerned, or one fresh injury concerned.

01:17He's got a small knee pain. The expectation is that he is going to play.

01:22Not included in the Belgium squad for the forthcoming international break.

01:26But Villa thinking that Tillerman will play tomorrow night, which is good news.

01:32Matty Cash out with a calf injury.

01:35Ross Barkley still sidelined with a hamstring problem.

01:39I think he's probably been quite a big miss these last two or three games.

01:43A calming presence to bring off the bench. Very strong in possession.

01:49And Villa need, ideally want to finish this portion of the season on a high.

01:55They need, if not a result, they need a performance that's a bit more familiar

02:01to what we've been seeing for the last couple of years.

02:05They've looked a little fatigued the last couple of games, which is a bit strange.

02:10Unai Emery has a reputation for pulling these results out of the bag,

02:13so we'll see what happens tomorrow.