Pundit Alan Shearer has revealed his prediction for Liverpool vs Aston Villa, with it noted that Arne Slot’s side “can’t afford another defeat”.
Liverpool have slumped into a crisis in recent months as they have lost six of their last seven matches in all competitions.
Head coach Slot had a pretty faultless debut season at Anfield as he helped Liverpool win their 20th Premier League title, though he is under immense scrutiny at the moment.
Slot has become one of the favourites to be the next Premier League manager sacked as Liverpool have slipped from first to seventh in the Premier League table.
Therefore, Liverpool are crying out for a victory, but they have a tough test on Saturday evening as they host Unai Emery’s in-form Aston Villa side at Anfield.
Shearer has backed Aston Villa to beat Liverpool, but he has explained why he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the hosts win.
“You’ve got one team in terrible form, losing six of their last seven, and one team in really good form winning six of their last seven. There’s an argument for both sides. It really is a massive game, but particularly with the way Liverpool were defeated in midweek,” Shearer said in an interview for The Metro (via Betfair).
“Liverpool can’t afford another defeat and if that does happen, then the alarm bells will really start to ring. I don’t know what to expect from Liverpool, there’s part of me that thinks it can’t continue this run, because they’ve got that much quality.
“I don’t like what I’m seeing at Liverpool right now though – they’re not competing and they’re all over the place. I think Villa might take advantage of the pressure Liverpool are under.
“When you gamble in midweek, the one thing you don’t want is to be battered. That filters into the football club and there’ll be an expectation for them to bounce back.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they did but I’m going to go for Villa because of the way football is, how it works sometimes, and the form that they’re in.”
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Liverpool are already seven points adrift of table-toppers Arsenal in the table, and Shearer has backed the Gunners to win their eleventh game in their last 12 matches when they face Burnley this weekend.
“Not many other people other than Burnley fans will be expecting anything out of it. But because of the run that Arsenal are on, because of how mean they are defensively, and the squad that they’ve got it won’t bother them a bit,” Shearer added.
“Whether they win from a set piece or a deflected shot, whatever it is. They played a completely new back four in the Carabao Cup and still got a clean sheet.
“They’re flying in the Champions League, they’re flying in the league, the club is full of confidence, and they look like the real deal this year.”
