Liverpool are preparing to play Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday night - and TV pundit Alan Shearer has made his prediction for that game

The Reds have an opportunity to return to winning ways at Anfield on Saturday as they host Unai Emery’s in-form Aston Villa side, with club legend Peter Crouch predicting that there will be “serious talks behind the scenes” if the hosts lose again.

Liverpool’s miserable run of form continued as they were beaten at home by Crystal Palace on Wednesday night to crash out of the Carabao Cup. Ismaila Sarr kept up his excellent goalscoring record against the Reds this season by netting twice in quick succession towards the end of the first-half.

Liverpool return to Premier League action on Sunday when they host Manchester United at Anfield, with Arne Slot hoping to have a number of his injured players back

Football betting sites have Liverpool odds-on with United at a significant price to cause an upset at Anfield. Though Amorim’s newly forward line has increased their xG from last season, Matheus Cunha is yet to score for the club and Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko have just three Premier League goals between them since August.

Brentford come into the tie fresh off the back of a derby win over an ailing West Ham on Monday night thanks to goals from Igor Thiago and Mathias Jensen. That victory took them five points clear of the drop zone, and Keith Andrews will be looking to keep a good thing going as he welcomes the Premier League champions to west London.

Canvot should be taking the place of Chris Richards who “has a little bit of an issue with his calf.” As for the rest of the Palace team that lost 1-0 to Arsenal on Sunday, Glasner said they “are fine and recovered well.

Liverpool face a Thursday night showdown at Arsenal in the New Year after the latest raft of live televised matches was confirmed. Broadcasters have taken their pick of the Premier League games over the festive period and the start of January with three fixtures involving the Reds affected.

Reds boss defends misfiring superstar over his role in Estevao’s dramatic stoppage-time winner at Stamford Bridge

Nottingham Forest v Manchester United Sean Dyche took over at Forest last week and after guiding them to an impressive 2-0 victory against FC Porto in the UEFA Europa League, normal service resumed last weekend as they lost 2-0 at Bournemouth.