Paul Merson believes Steven Gerrard must find a way of finding consistent performances from the Aston Villa defence to take a result against Liverpool, via his Sportskeeda column.
Gerrard returns to Anfield for the first time as an opposition manager on Saturday seeking to upset his former side. The Villans boss played 710 games across all competitions for the Reds as a player, while lifting two FA Cups, a UEFA Cup and the Champions League once.
Aston Villa last won a Premier League game at Liverpool in 2014 when Gabby Agbonlahor separated the sides. Gerrard captained the Reds that day, as Villa went second in the table.
An Aston Villa win on Saturday can only move the Birmingham outfit up to eighth, before results elsewhere. While Liverpool could end the day top of the table if Man City also lose.
Gerrard has helped to turn Aston Villa’s form around since replacing Dean Smith in charge last month. Only Liverpool (12) and Man City (12) have taken more points than the Villans (9) and Tottenham Hotspur (9 from three games) over the last four Premier League games.
Gerrard still has work to do at Aston Villa before Liverpool trip, Merson claims
Merson believes Gerrard still has work on his hands to fix the Aston Villa defence before visiting Liverpool, though.
“Aston Villa will cause Liverpool a few problems along the way this weekend. But will their defence turn up?” Merson wrote.
“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.”
Aston Villa shut Brighton out in a 2-0 win on Gerrard’s debut at the helm last month. But they conceded once to Crystal Palace, two to Man City and once to Leicester last week.
Marc Guehi also beat Emiliano Martinez in the fourth-minute of second-half stoppage-time for a consolation goal. Yet Wilfried Zaha could have opened the scoring for the Eagles, but dragged his effort wide of the post. Liverpool will not let Aston Villa off in similar scenarios.
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