Gerrard to strike again to further undo Villa’s fine start

Aston Villa have come out of their nightmare start to the Premier League with plenty of credit, beating Arsenal and narrowly losing to Chelsea in London.

Paul Lambert’s side next challenge is at home to Liverpool, where they are 3/1 outsiders to win due to the excellent record of the visitors at Villa Park.

Liverpool have won five and drawn four of their past 10 league matches at Villa, and are 10/11 to win again this term.

Their defensive record is especially impressive, they have kept nine clean sheets in 14 league visits to Villa Park, and conceded only five goals in total.

Liverpool are 33/20 to keep a clean sheet again, and 23/10 to win to nil, as they have done in two of their last four trips.

Steven Gerrard has enjoyed playing Villa in the past, scoring five times in the previous six league matches he has played against them, including a goal in each game last season.

The Liverpool midfielder is 10/1 to open the scoring, and 10/3 to score at any time.

Gerrard scored nine times in 26 Premier League matches last season, and although he plays in a slightly less attacking role under Brendan Rodgers than he has done in the past, he is still a genuine goal threat.

Aston Villa’s impressive performances against Chelsea and Arsenal will give their fans plenty of hope that they can upset the odds against Liverpool despite their poor home record.

If they are to do so, Christian Benteke will surely be vital to their chances.

The Belgian striker, who has started his season with three goals in two games, scored twice and set up one in the 3-1 win at Anfield last season, as well as opening the scoring in the 2-1 loss at Villa Park.

With 17 goals, Only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have scored more than Benteke in 2013, and the 22-year-old is worth considering to score the opener against Liverpool at 11/2.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing

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