Good evening to you all. Welcome to our coverage of Liverpool’s clash with Aston Villa.

After three games, it’s Paul Lambert’s side that are in a higher league position – one point clear of the Reds. On paper, the Midlands side face into their most difficult challenge of the campaign here but they do have a solid record on the red side of the Mersey. They’ve lost just once from their last 5 visits to Anfield. Meanwhile, Liverpool have not won any of the last 6 fixtures against Villa.

Here are the teams for you:

Liverpool XI: Mignolet, Manquillo, Moreno, Lovren, Sakho, Gerrard, Henderson, Coutinho, Markovic, Lallana, Balotelli.

Aston Villa XI: Guzan, Hutton, Baker, Senderos, Cissokho, Westwood, Delph, Cleverley, Richardson, Agbonlahor, Weimann

Daniel Sturridge misses out due to the injury he picked up while playing for England last week while Raheem Sterling is on the bench. There is a home debut for Mario Balotelli, a ‘regular’ debut for Adam Lallana and a first start for Lazar Markovic.

For Villa, Tom Cleverley is straight into the side after his loan move from Manchester United. But a big blow for Paul Lambert as Ron Vlaar is ruled out due to injury. Nathan Baker will play alongside Philippe Senderos in the centre of defence.

Anfield is looking pretty nice, ain’t it?

Can Villa be party-poopers or will Mario inflict some damage? Earlier this morning, I put this together on why Villa have been so solid early on this season. As we approach kick-off, why not have a look? One of the key reasons I mention is the experience at the back. This evening, Nathan Baker deputises for Ron Vlaar and that doesn’t bode well for Villa.

Over on SKY, the talk is about Weimann and whether he can close down Gerrard and disrupt Liverpool building a solid foundation in the game. Perhaps the big positive for Villa will be in transition and using Weimann’s pace and energy in combining with Gabby Agbonlahor to run at Lovren and Sakho.

With Cleverley and Delph in the starting lineup, Lambert clearly doesn’t want to cheaply surrender possession and will know that Liverpool’s front-four has a great mix of nous, intelligence and power.

Always a relief to see him getting a bib on without difficulty.

Teams are in the tunnel…Any predictions? I’m going for a 2-2 draw. Controversial but if Villa get in front, it will give them plenty of confidence.

Plenty to prove for Tom Cleverley here. Plenty of England caps, a Premier League winner and still very much-maligned. Let’s see if he can re-ignite his career, beginning this evening.

AND WE’RE OFF!

3 mins - CLOSE! The good and bad of Moreno. Firstly, his error allows Hutton get a cross in and Lovren has to deal with it. Moments later, he gets up the other end to ping in a super cross to the bar post for Markovic to crack a volley towards goal but it’s just too high.

6 mins – VERY CLOSE! Markovic is involved again as Liverpool raid down the right with Coutinho who sends in a nice cross. Balotelli is waiting just behind Markovic but it’s the Serbi who fancies the header but sends it narrowly wide of the far post. Good early pressure from the hosts.

9 mins – GOAL! Agbonlahor! 

Poor defending all around from Liverpool. Firstly, Sakho’s mistake allows Agbonlahor to force a corner and from the resulting set-piece, Lovren is the wrong side of Senderos who flicks towards goal for Agbonlahor to prod it home. Brendan Rodgers will be furious but Villa get exactly what they would’ve wanted. Game on!

11 mins - Liverpool, try to orchestrate an instant response from a corner of their own but Sakho’s header is pretty feeble and Guzan scoops it up.

13 mins – VERY CLOSE! Wow. This is very poor from Liverpool. Another set-piece for Villa, this time a free kick, and Senderos spins around Balotelli to lose him completely on the edge of the area. He ends up arriving at the far post completely unmarked but sends his header well wide. Big, big let-off for Liverpool.

Here is the Agbonlahor goal. Very scrappy but damage done when Lovren gets wrong-side of Senderos.

By the way, in between all of the Villa pressure, Adam Lallana picked up a yellow card after a nasty enough challenge on Cleverley.

And just to clarify a stat I used at the top of the coverage, it should’ve read that ‘the home side’ has not won any of the last 6 fixtures between the clubs. Apologies.

22 mins – OUCH! Very strange stuff from Senderos. Balotelli goes down off the ball and the Anfield crowd react to what’s happened. The replay clears up the incident. The Italian was making a run in behind Senderos when the Swiss centre-back sticks out a leg and trips him up. With Balotelli set for a clear passage to goal, it was pretty naughty. If the ref saw it, it would’ve been a certain yellow.

Liverpool have had plenty of the ball but just can’t seem to engineer dangerous chances in the final third. Credit to Villa for staying compact and determined in key defensive areas.

28 mins – Let’s keep an eye on this Senderos/Balotelli battle because the centre-half is trying to get into the striker’s head a little. He’s needling him in the back, unsettling him, essentially doing everything a centre-back normally does. And it’s been working. The Italian hasn’t offered much. But, Senderos needs to be careful. He’s just had a word from Lee Mason after bringing Balotelli down again.

32 mins – CLOSE! That’s more like it from Liverpool. Balotelli does well initially to get turned and spread it wide. It eventually comes to Coutinho who clips in a ball into the right channel for Henderson who neatly heads it across for Lallana. But there’s Baker to get his body in the way and block. Good football from the home side though. Encouraging.

What he was brought to the club to do. Hasn’t done badly on his debut.

38 mins - For the first time in a long time, Villa break forward and force two corners in quick succession. Both are aimed at Senderos and the deliveries are good. But Liverpool seem to have sorted things out and manage to contest both crosses and both opportunities fizzle out.

A little glimpse of Sterling as he makes his way back to the bench after warming up. Liverpool have certainly lacked individual magic in the final third with Lallana struggling to find his feet on his debut. Coutinho has played some nice passes while after some early promise, Markovic has faded. Will Sterling come on at the break?

43 mins – VERY CLOSE! And just as I typed that, Lallana offers up his greatest contribution of the opening period! Lovely touch from Balotelli with his back to goal – just cushions it for Lallana to race onto. Doesn’t have to break his stride and catches it sweetly on his left foot. Arrows just narrowly past the upright with Guzan stretching to get there. Close call.

45 mins – CLOSE! Traditional Liverpool move. Gerrard pings diagonal ball into the feet of Balotelli who pulls wide left and away from the close attention of Senderos. Cuts inside Hutton and looks to bend it to the far corner. He strikes it well and only for a deflection, it probably would’ve hit the target. Goes out for a corner but it comes to nothing.

46 mins – CLOSE! More from Liverpool as they finish the half with a flourish. It’s Moreno who makes a run down the left and with Markovic making a decent run inside, he seems in two minds and dallies. It gives Baker enough time to get back and make the challenge.

And that’s HALF-TIME!

An entertaining half at Anfield. Liverpool looked good right at the start and right at the end. In between, they struggled to create much. Coutinho has been inventive but Balotelli has had a shadow in the shape of Senderos for the majority of the period. The one time he got away from the centre-back was late in the half when he drifted wide, cut inside and almost conjured a moment of magic. Markovic has made some cameos but he and Lallana will be asked to contribute more. The ex-Southampton man has had one decent strike that went narrowly wide while he’s also on a yellow card after a wild lunge on Tom Cleverley.

Meanwhile, Villa scored and then sat back, content to keep a solid shape and frustrate Liverpool. They’re very happy to force set-pieces – having caused the hosts blind panic whenever there’s been a dead-ball. On the break, they’ve moved intelligently and haven’t cheaply surrendered the ball. There’s always pace up there too when they break but it’s really been about the midfield three of Delph, Cleverley and Westwood who have been very solid.

Says it all, really.

And the 2nd half is underway! 

No changes for either side…yet. But should this continue for another 10/15 minutes, I’d expect to see Sterling introduced.

47 mins – Bright start from Liverpool. They try to raise the tempo and Balotelli sends a good ball wide for Markovic who charges inside, rolls it across for Coutinho and his strike is deflected for a corner. When it’s sent in, Balotelli gets up but, under pressure from Delph, can’t quite get a decent connection on the header.

51 mins – The Kop finds its voice as Liverpool start the second-half quite well. Crisp passing and they’ve been camped in the final third for a while now. Coutinho tries to play a pass into the area but Senderos sends it out for a corner. When it’s curled into the near post, Henderson can only head it over. Villa need to relieve some pressure but the ball is coming right back at them whenever they clear.

Heavily-influenced by his assistant, Paul Lambert going for the unshaven look today. For all those interested, Keane’s beard is still wild, bushy and all kinds of grey.

Peter Byrne / PA Wire/Press Association Images Peter Byrne / PA Wire/Press Association Images / PA Wire/Press Association Images

56 mins – Markovic, like in the first-half, has had his moments since the restart. He tries to link up with Manquillo on the right but it just doesn’t quite come off. Good running though and he’s certainly provided some energy and purpose here.

59 mins - Sterling is just about to be introduced here. He’s getting some detailed instructions from Brendan Rodgers on the touchline. Would think Lallana will be the one to make way.

61 mins – SUBSTITUTION! Sterling (on) – Lallana (off)

So, confirmation of Lallana’s debut coming to an end. It means Rodgers wants to keep the current shape and not switch formations. But will keep an eye on that over the next while. Lambert for Balotelli is another change that might be contemplated.

62 mins – BOOKING! Hutton! The Villa full-back goes in on Sterling and is late. Liverpool players are furious as the youngster lies in a crumpled heap. Gets the yellow and Sterling is up very quickly to continue.

65 mins – For a brief second, Villa look like they’re in but as Hutton gets in behind, he has little support and instead of recycling possession, tries an audacious half-volley. It goes right across goal and Richardson uses his strength to knock Manquillo off the ball but after passing to Delph, the cross is dealt with and Liverpool clear. A little strange seeing Villa attacking, to be honest.

68 mins – Prepare for a siege on the Villa goal for the next twenty minutes. Liverpool have had so much of the ball and have threatened but not in key areas. Guzan hasn’t been forced into action and Rodgers is now having in-depth conversations with both Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert on the Liverpool bench.

Refund, I’d say.

70 mins – SUBSTITUTIONS! Lambert (on) – Balotelli (off) and Borini (on) – Markovic (off)

Liverpool make that double switch and the Italian is a bit grumpy initially though gently applauds the Liverpool fans as he trudges off. He’s given a little condescending pat by Steven Gerrard as he heads to the touchline. Meanwhile, Borini is still at Liverpool.

71 mins – SUBSTITUTION! N’Zogbia (on) – Weimann (off) 

Fresh legs for Villa and Joe Kinnear’s favourite player will provide some energy if Villa can break forward at any stage.

76 mins – Many would argue that Liverpool, from simple probability, will get at least one decent chance here. But Villa have lasted this long quite comfortably. Barring an individual error, they have what it takes to see this out. Up to Liverpool’s creative players to orchestrate a decent opening.

One dangerous aspect that has crept into Villa’s game has been the concession of free-kicks in dangerous areas. A few times, Gerrard has whipped in set-pieces from the left side and though nothing has come of any so far, all it takes, as Villa proved, is a flick-on and a scrappy finish. Villa need to cut out the cheap fouling.

Into the last 10 minutes at Anfield…

82 mins – OFF THE POST! Incredible from Coutinho. Picks it up wide left and cuts inside with intent. Nice footwork and smacks the shot towards the far corner. Gets a little touch from Borini on the way, hits the inside of the far upright and pops back out. As Sterling drives the rebound towards goal, Henderson gets in the way and accidently blocks. So close.

86 mins – SUBSTITUTION! Sanchez (on) – Cleverley (off)

Carlos Sanchez, aka The Rock, the Colmbian midfielder, is on in place of the ex-United midfielder who did well today. Think this will be a good move for him.

89 mins – Hate to bring this up but this is the type of game that Suarez won for Liverpool single-handedly last term. There’s a lack of movement and spark in the area and how they could do with some impish and impudent play from the Uruguayan here. All very static and one-dimensional, unfortunately.

92 mins – There’s just two minutes of injury time left now. Liverpool corner…

93 mins – Y’know, I was expecting the worst this evening when Baker was named in the centre of Villa’s defence. But he and Senderos have been terrific and dealt with Balotelli and Lambert really well. Baker has blocked, harried and cleared and, most importantly, kept his head. He’s just been named Man of the Match.

AND THAT’S FULL-TIME! 

Well, Villa’s unbeaten run continues. An incredible start to the season for them. Unbeaten after four games and confidence will be soaring. Agbonlahor will get the plaudits but what a team effort. They stuck to the game-plan and were well-drilled, determined and resolute. Liverpool failed to test Guzan and though Coutinho hit the post late on, they struggled to break Villa down. Despite changing the entire front-line, Brendan Rodgers couldn’t find the right mix and they’ve suffered two defeats from their first four games. Lots to ponder, lots to analyse and there will be plenty of reaction on the site shortly.

Thanks for staying with us.