Premier League Gameweek 18 Wed, Dec 30 · 20:15 Villa Park, Birmingham
Aston Villa 12th · 8 pts · 7 played
VS— Compare
Liverpool 5th · 12 pts · 7 played
Get full prediction oneScoredOdds · Value · Detailed stats →
Our take

No forecast yet.

Forecasts are published up to 21 days before kick-off.

Away travel126 kmRest days4.3 · 4.1Matches / 14d2 · 2
Real contextStrength only
Aston Villa—%
Draw—%
Liverpool—%
Expected goals — – — No forecast for this match yet. Forecasts are published up to 21 days ahead.
Weather (Birmingham)

Forecast from 15 Dec

Referee—Not appointed yet

Key insights

Automatic descriptive highlights for Aston Villa and Liverpool. These describe recorded performance and do not change the match forecast. Each metric is ordered within its own type; types alternate to keep the selection varied. Up to six distinct signals per category, with at most three per team.

Result statistics require at least five known completed matches. They use the last ten recorded results across all competitions, or the last eight away results. Future, special and invalid results are excluded; missing results can interrupt real-world sequences, so streaks refer to recorded results. 10+ means at least ten within the window.

Bars run oldest to newest. Height shows goals scored, or goals conceded in conceding cards, on the same 0–6 scale. Six or more goals use maximum height; zero retains a small marker. Colour shows the result: teal = win, amber = draw, red = loss. In event and streak cards, solid bars mark the event and faded bars mark its absence. Hover for the date, full score and event. xG and points cards compare their two inputs, not a fabricated history.

xG Difference uses the observed pre-match Playing style averages already shown for this fixture. Window size is not xG coverage, and the two averages can have different denominators. Result statistics use completed matches recorded up to now; their window can differ from the Playing style profile. Season points and xPts are not included here.

Headlines

Headlines insights

All qualifying highlights · metric types alternate, not a combined ranking

Attack

Attack insights

All qualifying highlights · metric types alternate, not a combined ranking

Defence

Defence insights

All qualifying highlights · metric types alternate, not a combined ranking

Streaks

Streaks insights

All qualifying highlights · metric types alternate, not a combined ranking

Team strength

Aston VillaLiverpool
— L90 StrengthIn forecast —
82 Current StrengthIn forecast 84
83 AttackIn forecast 85
78 DefenceIn forecast 84
84 Form indexContext 87
In forecastContext

L90 Strength, Attack and Defence come from the same Elo rating and attack and defence ratings the forecast uses. Form index is explained in Recent performance.

Match Opportunity

Full analysis

Aston Villa

Attack—
Defense risk—

Liverpool

Attack—
Defense risk—

Opportunity unavailable for one or both teams.

Playing style

Aston VillaLiverpool
1.00 Goals scoredVia Att/Def 1.29
1.57 Goals concededVia Att/Def 1.14
1.13 xGVia Att/Def 1.55
1.67 xG allowedVia Att/Def 1.20
-0.13 Goals minus xGContext -0.26
57% Scored inContext 71%
29% Clean sheetsContext 43%
11.86 ShotsContext 15.71
4.40 Shots on targetVia Att/Def 5.00
27% On target shareContext 32%
8.00 Shots in the boxContext 8.71
64% Box shareContext 55%
8% ConversionContext 8%
1.75 OffsidesContext 2.14
15.86 Shots allowedContext 11.86
4.43 On target allowedVia Att/Def 3.43
3.83 BlocksContext 3.86
3.14 Goalkeeper savesContext 2.29
71% Save rateContext 67%
48% PossessionIn forecast 56%
410 PassesContext 482
339 Accurate passesContext 408
83% Pass accuracyContext 85%
6.72 Team ratingContext 6.90
10.71 FoulsContext 13.86
13.00 Fouls sufferedContext 10.29
2.00 Yellow cardsContext 2.57
0.00 Red cardsContext 0.00
This league season, per match · 7 and 7 games
1.80 Goals scoredVia Att/Def 1.80
1.40 Goals concededVia Att/Def 1.30
1.52 xGVia Att/Def 1.89
1.66 xG allowedVia Att/Def 1.29
+0.28 Goals minus xGContext -0.09
70% Scored inContext 80%
30% Clean sheetsContext 30%
13.60 ShotsContext 17.40
5.88 Shots on targetVia Att/Def 5.70
35% On target shareContext 33%
9.10 Shots in the boxContext 11.00
65% Box shareContext 62%
13% ConversionContext 10%
1.57 OffsidesContext 2.50
15.60 Shots allowedContext 11.50
4.50 On target allowedVia Att/Def 3.40
4.22 BlocksContext 3.20
3.30 Goalkeeper savesContext 2.10
73% Save rateContext 62%
46% PossessionIn forecast 56%
404 PassesContext 487
340 Accurate passesContext 417
84% Pass accuracyContext 86%
6.91 Team ratingContext 6.99
10.50 FoulsContext 12.10
12.20 Fouls sufferedContext 9.80
1.70 Yellow cardsContext 2.10
0.00 Red cardsContext 0.00
Last 10 matches, all competitions, per match · 10 and 10 games
In forecastVia Att/DefContext

In forecast: possession adjusts the LOAD90 forecast directly. Via Att/Def: goals, xG and shots on target feed the attack and defence ratings. Context: describes the style, no correction of its own.

Recent performance last 5 · schedule

Aston Villa
Rest4.3 dayssince last match
Matches / 14d2all competitions
Travel0 km325 km in 14d
Schedule load0%Low
Form 84 · 10 pts vs 5.3 for an average club · +1.5 vs expected
  • W17 OctA · Newcastle1–01.6 xPts
  • W14 OctH · Fenerbahce6–02.0 xPts
  • D10 OctH · Brentford2–21.7 xPts
  • W19 SepA · Tottenham3–21.5 xPts
  • L12 SepH · Nottingham Forest1–21.8 xPts
Liverpool
Rest4.1 dayssince last match
Matches / 14d2all competitions
Travel126 km357 km in 14d
Schedule load0%Low
Form 87 · 10 pts vs 4.7 for an average club · +2.5 vs expected
  • W17 OctA · Brentford2–11.3 xPts
  • W14 OctA · Lask Linz6–31.8 xPts
  • L11 OctH · Manchester City0–31.3 xPts
  • W20 SepA · Bournemouth1–01.2 xPts
  • D12 SepH · Fulham0–02.0 xPts

Expected points come from each pre-match EloLambda forecast (3 × win chance + draw chance). Explains recent results; in our tests recent form did not add predictive value on top of the model. Rest, travel and schedule load are context; only High Congestion (4+ matches in 14 days) changes the forecast. Full schedule below.

Full schedule & recovery
Aston Villa Liverpool
Schedule loaddescriptive index, contextLow · 0Low · 0
High congestion4+ matches in 14 days, in the forecastNoNo
Rest dayssince last match4.3Premier League 2026-2027, 26 Dec4.1Premier League 2026-2027, 26 Dec
Travel to venuefrom home stadium0 km126 km
Travel, last 14 daysaway trips, both ways325 km357 km
Matcheslast 7 / 14 / 28 days1 / 2 / 51 / 2 / 5
Next matchdays after this one2.92.8

All competitions synced from eScored, including cups and Europe. Distances are straight-line between stadium cities. Only High Congestion changes the forecast; the other rows are context.

Squad & lineups

Aston Villa Last XI · not confirmed
4-2-3-1 · vs Newcastle (A) 1–0, 17 Oct
1Z. Suzuki(G)
29A. Wan-Bissaka 5T. Mings 3V. Lindelöf 2M. Cash
35João Gomes 8B. Kamara
10E. Buendía 44J. Manzambi 47Alysson Edward
11N. Jackson
Liverpool Last XI · not confirmed
4-2-3-1 · vs Brentford (A) 2–1, 17 Oct
1A. Becker(G)
6M. Kerkez 4V. van Dijk 5J. Jacquet 33R. Araujo
8D. Szoboszlai 10A. Mac Allister
29B. Barcola 7F. Wirtz 23Víctor Muñoz
9A. Isak

Last XI is the club's most recent recorded starting lineup, Confirmed XI is the official lineup for this match. We do not publish a predicted lineup. Players in red are reported missing for this match.

Key absences
Aston Villa Squad list arrives with the next forecast refresh
Liverpool Squad list arrives with the next forecast refresh
Total impact vs full squads —

Home / Away this season

Aston Villa · Home 0.33points per game · 3 home games
W-D-L
0-1-2
Scored
1.00
Conceded
1.67
Liverpool · Away 2.50points per game · 4 away games
W-D-L
3-1-0
Scored
1.75
Conceded
0.75

Actual results only, not forecast λ. Samples this early in the season are small, so these numbers are not used as a forecast correction.

Common opponents 3 this season

OpponentAston VillaLiverpool
Newcastle W 1–0 A D 2–2 A
Brentford D 2–2 H W 2–1 A
Nottingham Forest L 1–2 H D 2–2 H
Points4 of 9 · 1.33 per game5 of 9 · 1.67 per game

League games this season against teams both sides have played. A small, uneven sample: context only.

Head to head last 10 of 12 meetings

1 Aston Villa wins3 draws6 Liverpool wins
Goals per game1.20 – 2.10 Over 2.560% Both scored60% Clean sheets0% · 40%
  • 15 May 2026Aston Villa4–2Liverpool
  • 1 Nov 2025Liverpool2–0Aston Villa
  • 19 Feb 2025Aston Villa2–2Liverpool
  • 9 Nov 2024Liverpool2–0Aston Villa
  • 13 May 2024Aston Villa3–3Liverpool
  • 3 Sep 2023Liverpool3–0Aston Villa

All competitions, finished games before this kick-off. Shown as history: in our tests head-to-head added almost nothing on top of the model.

Goals & match trends

Aston VillaLiverpoolForecast
Scored per game 1.001.29
Conceded per game 1.571.14
Match goals 2.572.43
Over 1.5 57%71%
Over 2.5 57%57%
Over 3.5 43%29%
Both teams scored 43%43%
Clean sheets 29%43%
Failed to score 43%29%
Games77
Aston VillaLiverpoolForecast
Scored per game 1.801.80
Conceded per game 1.401.30
Match goals 3.203.10
Over 1.5 70%80%
Over 2.5 70%60%
Over 3.5 50%30%
Both teams scored 50%60%
Clean sheets 30%30%
Failed to score 30%20%
Games1010

Actual results: Season is this league season, Last 10 is all competitions. The Forecast column is the LOAD90 model for this match, so you can compare what the teams have done with what the model expects.

Corners & cards

Aston VillaLiverpoolLeague
Corners
Corners won3.144.86
Corners conceded4.294.43
Match total7.439.299.49
Over 8.529% 2/743% 3/7
Over 9.514% 1/743% 3/7
Over 10.514% 1/743% 3/7
Cards
Cards2.142.71
Opponent cards3.142.43
Match total5.285.144.17
Over 3.571% 5/771% 5/7
Over 4.557% 4/757% 4/7
Aston VillaLiverpoolLeague
Corners
Corners won4.006.60
Corners conceded5.004.10
Match total9.0010.709.49
Over 8.550% 5/1060% 6/10
Over 9.530% 3/1060% 6/10
Over 10.530% 3/1060% 6/10
Cards
Cards1.802.20
Opponent cards2.802.20
Match total4.604.404.17
Over 3.560% 6/1060% 6/10
Over 4.550% 5/1050% 5/10

Actual per-match figures; Season is this league season, Last 10 is all competitions. LOAD90 does not forecast corners or cards. Corner and card markets on eScored.

Goal timing

Aston Villa6 games · scored 7 · conceded 10
1 2 0-15
2 16-30
2 1 31-45
1 46-60
2 61-75
2 4 76-90
Liverpool7 games · scored 9 · conceded 8
2 1 0-15
1 16-30
1 31-45
3 1 46-60
2 3 61-75
2 1 76-90
Aston Villa9 games · scored 18 · conceded 13
3 2 0-15
1 4 16-30
5 1 31-45
1 1 46-60
5 1 61-75
3 4 76-90
Liverpool10 games · scored 18 · conceded 13
2 1 0-15
2 2 16-30
2 1 31-45
6 1 46-60
4 6 61-75
2 2 76-90

scored conceded, by 15-minute band (stoppage time counts to the band before it). Only games with a complete goal log.

Scenario lab Soon

Real contextLOAD90 forecast: EloLambda plus playing style (possession) and High Congestion.
Pure EloLambdaControl forecast without the LOAD90 factors, as on eScored.
Strength onlyElo and home edge only.
Full squadsBoth teams with every player available.
Neutral venueRemove home advantage.

Next fixtures Premier League

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Tottenham Brighton Dec 2919:30 Hull City Leeds Dec 2919:30 Everton Manchester City Dec 2920:15 Manchester United Sunderland Dec 3019:30 Newcastle Nottingham Forest Dec 3019:30 Fulham Arsenal Dec 3019:30 Crystal Palace Bournemouth Dec 3019:30 Coventry Brentford Dec 3019:30 Ipswich Chelsea Dec 3020:15 Aston Villa Liverpool Dec 3020:15