Slot Talk: “Villa Away Is One of the Tougher Games You Can Face”
Liverpool are preparing for what could be their toughest week of the season, starting with a trip to face Aston Villa on Wednesday night.
Liverpool are preparing for what on paper looks likely to be their toughest week of the season, one with the potential to determine whether this side is remembered as champions or pretenders who stumbled and fell heading into the final stretch.
A mid-week away date at Aston Villa is followed by a visit to Manchester City on Sunday before Newcastle United come to Anfield next Wednesday. If Liverpool are to be champions they may not need to win them all, but they’ll need most of the available points.
“I still see it as 13 games to be played and the next game to be the most important one,” manager Arne Slot noted at his pre-match press conference ahead of his side’s Villa visit. “Starting with Villa away, a difficult game for us and for everyone.
“They have a great home record, maybe even more if they play in the evening, so we know it’s going to be a challenge. But we have quite an okay away record as well this season—we’ve done okay this season in general. So it’s a game I think to look forward to.”
After qualifying for the Champions League last year, Villa have struggled slightly with the heavier fixture list that results from that, qualifying for the Round of 16 in Europe but ninth domestically and six points off where they ended up last season.
Their qualification directly to the Round of 16 as the eighth best side in Champions League league play, though, is more than enough reason to take their threat very seriously—even more so for a Liverpool side that has been a touch inconsistent of late.
“I think Villa away, when you get the fixture list, you all know that Villa away is one of the tougher ones you can face,” Slot added. “Very good manager, always has a very good game plan. They brought in quite a lot of good players in the winter break as well.
“They already had a very good team, too, and qualified top eight in the Champions League, so that tells you it’s a strong team we are going to face. But Wolves at home was also tough—every game in this period of time for every team in the league is difficult.”
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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