Liverpool have lost six of their last seven in all competitions. It is a grim sequence, even if the goal differential across that run is only -4. After Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, Arne Slot fronted up: “It’s always a blow to lose a game of football, especially if it leads to going out of a competition.”
The manager stressed that he used the same kind of rotation “as last season in rounds like this.” The takeaway is simple: that was the cup. This is the league. With Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday night, the starters are set to return and the standard has to rise.
There is still a platform. Liverpool and Villa are level on 15 points, separated by form and mood. The hosts sit seventh (WLLLL). The visitors arrive eighth (DWWWW). The response now matters more than the explanations.
Liverpool vs Aston Villa: kickoff time and context
Kickoff is set for Saturday, November 1 at 8pm, Anfield, Liverpool, UK. The result probability tilts toward the hosts: Liverpool 62%, Draw 20%, Aston Villa 17%. Slot’s side need a performance that matches those odds. The midweek selection was heavily rotated; this one won’t be. Expect senior voices to set the tone from the first whistle.
Arne Slot’s message after Crystal Palace defeat
Slot was blunt about the run: “There are many reasons maybe why we’ve lost six out of seven. None of them are good enough to accept losing so many… at Liverpool, losing five or six, six or seven is always too much.” The subtext is about urgency without panic. The team is not being blown away; the margins are tight. That demands sharper pressing, cleaner final balls and a ruthlessness in both boxes.
The selection call is straightforward. The cup tie featured reserves and youngsters. The league fixture should restore Liverpool’s core, with intensity and control the non-negotiables.
Liverpool predicted XI vs Aston Villa
Giorgi Mamardashvili; Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez; Alexis Mac Allister, Dominic Szoboszlai; Mo Salah, Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo; Hugo Ekitike.
This setup re-centres Liverpool around ball security and vertical punch. Mac Allister anchors the build. Szoboszlai provides the surge. Salah’s gravity widens channels for Wirtz and Gakpo to attack the half-spaces, with Ekitike occupying centre-backs. It is a group built to turn control into chances and chances into a result.
What has to change at Anfield
Six defeats in seven is a trend, not a sentence. The Palace losses bookend the slide, but the -4 aggregate tells its own story: games have been alive. The fix is execution. Win second balls, compress the pitch, and be decisive in the area. If Liverpool hit those notes, the table will look very different very quickly.
In this context, Villa are an ideal test — organised, confident and unforgiving if you drift. Anfield under lights asks for clarity and edge. Slot has challenged his leaders to deliver both. Saturday is the moment to turn the page.
Conclusion: the excuses have run out. With the first team restored and the crowd behind them, Liverpool have the tools and the odds. Now they need the points.
