Sitting five points off the coveted Champions League places, Liverpool will look to gain maximum points in their upcoming fixtures. If they can stay close to fourth over the coming weeks, with the January transfer window looming and Dalglish being clear they have the option to buy or not and Steven Gerrard’s return imminent; there will surely be the belief and potential within the club to be genuine contenders for fourth, right to the final whistle of the season.
After their impressive performance against QPR with a misleading scoreline for a team that dominated the match in all areas, something of a trend this season for Liverpool, they will run into defining period of their season with an away match and return for Downing to his former club: Aston Villa.
Villa have only taken 11 points from a possible 21 at home this season. They will be without their joint top scorer Agbonlahor, who is serving his one match ban after picking up 5 yellow cards.
Liverpool have had more draws this season then they would have liked. However there will be some sense of confidence going into this match at least, with the knowledge that all of their draws: five, have been at Anfield. They have taken 12 points from a possible 21 away from home.
With Liverpool looking to push closer to the top four and and Villa looking to push further away from the relegation battle, which was helped by their win over Bolton last weekend; both clubs will be anxious to get a result.