Aston Villa vs Liverpool prediction and odds: Back the Reds to bounce back with routine win

Don't expect another 7-2 but do expect goals when Villa host Liverpool on Tuesday night.

The chances are, however, that the majority will be scored by the visitors who head to Birmingham smarting after being held to a draw by Spurs on Saturday night - a result that has put a real dent in their title hopes.

The Reds are heavy 4/9 favourites with Betfred to return to winning ways at Villa Park while the hosts are 6/1 chances to follow up last year's runaway victory in this fixture.

Villa go into this on the back of back-to-back wins against Burnley and Norwich but they face a sharp rise in class now because the quadruple-chasing Merseysiders are bang up there as one of the best football teams anywhere in the world right now.

Villa's record against the top eight since Steven Gerrard took over reads a dismal won none, drawn one and lost seven - and most of the sides in that list are nowhere near the level of Liverpool right now.

That doesn't bode well for a Villa side whose clean sheet at home to Norwich was only their second at Villa Park this calendar year. No side has been as prolific on the road as Liverpool (averaging 2.41 goals per game) and it's almost impossible to see the hosts keeping the likes of Salah, Mane and co at bay.

It will be something of a surprise if this doesn't turn out to be a fairly one-sided affair with Liverpool dominating possession and creating the lion's share of the chances, just as they did in the reverse fixture, where Villa managed an xGF of just 0.4 (compared to Liverpool's 2.5).

Liverpool have kept four clean sheets in their last six away Premier League games so, with that in mind, back the Reds to bounce back from their disappointing result against Spurs at the weekend by winning this