Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones has been backed to continue his brilliant individual form when the Reds go after their eighth consecutive Premier League win at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
Aston Villa are the penultimate opponents for Liverpool this season as Jurgen Klopp and his rejuvenated side maintain their late quest for Champions League qualification. Here's what three pundits including Paul Merson and Mark Lawrenson expect to happen when the Reds get down to business against Villa;
Paul Merson - Sportskeeda
Aston Villa had a good result against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. But if they play the high line against Liverpool as they did against Spurs, they'll concede at least four goals here. How Spurs did not capitalize on it is beyond me. They kept getting flagged for offside and should have done better.
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Liverpool have confirmed the departure of four key players - Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Firmino was the main man for Liverpool not too far back, and he was the one who knitted everything together.
The way he used to draw centre-halves helped [Sadio] Mane and [Mohamed] Salah score a lot of goals.
Liverpool will miss Milner, as well. He's been brilliant for the club and Jurgen Klopp will surely miss having his presence in the dressing room next season. I expect Liverpool to keep up the pressure on Manchester United and Newcastle United and secure a hard fought victory.
Score prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Aston Villa
Chris Sutton - BBC Sport
This feels like the kind of game where Aston Villa manager Unai Emery could go set his team up to frustrate Liverpool and carry a threat on the counter. I'm certainly not discounting Villa here - but Liverpool have such great momentum after winning their past seven games that I can't see them stumbling.
They will attack Villa. They may even overwhelm them.
The Reds play bottom side Southampton in their final game of the season, so I'm expecting them to finish on 71 points. They will need Newcastle or Manchester United to slip up to let them sneak into the top four.
Score prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Aston Villa
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Mark Lawrenson - Paddy Power
I'll go for Liverpool to win. It's interesting a couple of weeks ago it looked as though Curtis Jones had gone backwards, but he's just had a fabulous last three or four games with assists and goals.
Score prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Aston Villa
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