This is a Premier League season unlike any other, as it contains a World Cup break in its midst, and it involves extreme fixture congestion on both sides of it. Who manages these issues the best will go a long way towards determining who eventually wins the competition.
“For the players who played in the World Cup, the whole year will be incredibly intense,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said ahead of his side’s restart opener at Aston Villa.
Liverpool at Aston Villa FYIs
Competition: Boxing Day, Premier League Return
Kickoff: Tue Dec 26 5:30pm GMT, Villa Park
Team News for both sides: go here
Google Probability: Liverpool Win 55% Draw 23% Villa Win 22%
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
“That’s really, really, really tough. We will have to see how we deal with that, and we will be really careful with the information we get.
“That makes planning really difficult for the next game because we were 100% clear what we want to do against City and then you have to change in the last second pretty much, that’s not cool but it’s the situation and that might happen against Villa as well so we need to be flexible.”
Managers have complained about festive period fixture congestion for time immemorial. In looking at what Jurgen Klopp has said about who is and who isn’t unavailable, here’s the first team projection we’re going with.
Liverpool Starting XI Prediction at Aston Villa
GK- Alisson
DEF- Phillips, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson
MID- Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, Thiago
ATT- Salah, Nunez, Carvalho
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.