Chris Sutton explains his Aston Villa v Liverpool FC prediction

Chris Sutton is backing Aston Villa to sneak a 1-0 victory over Liverpool FC in their Premier League clash at Villa Park on Boxing Day.

Liverpool FC head into the game looking to make it three wins on the spin in the English top flight after having bounced back from two successive defeats.

The Merseyside outfit have struggled to find consistent form this season and have only managed to win six of their 14 Premier League games, leaving them in sixth place and 15 points behind leaders Arsenal.

Jurgen Klopp’s side – who were knocked out of the League Cup by Manchester City on Thursday night – are seven points adrift of the top four, although they have played a game less than fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.

Former Chelsea FC striker feels that Aston Villa – who have won three of their last four in the top flight – may have enough to claim a narrow victory against Liverpool FC on Monday.

Writing in his column for BBC Sport, Sutton said: “Liverpool looked pretty lively against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Thursday but they missed some big chances and also looked quite leaky at the back.

“I can see there being at least one surprise result in this first round of games back after the World Cup and I think Villa boss Unai Emery will fancy his chances of sneaking this one.”

However, former Manchester United full-back Patrice Evra disagrees with Sutton and feels that Liverpool FC will claim a 3-1 win on Boxing Day.

Writing in his own column for Betfair, Evra said: “I saw Liverpool in the [League Cup] and you can feel that they are angry. Their hunger is back. They will want to come back strong for the second part of the season and I can see them starting with a win in this one.”

Attentions at Anfield will inevitably start to turn towards the January transfer window in the coming days and the possibility of the Reds making some signings to bolster their squad for the second half of the season.

Klopp was quizzed about the forthcoming transfer window at his pre-match news conference and the German head coach refused to rule out the possibility of the Reds making some moves next month.

“January, in our situation, I think what we always say in this moment because it’s true is [that] from the sports side we are always prepared, that’s how it is,” Klopp said.

“It’s always clear what kind of ideas we have or how the necessity is from our point of view and that’s clear. But all the rest doesn’t lie 100 per cent in our hands, that’s how it is, and we always work with what we’ve got and that will not change.

“I think you can imagine with the situation we are in that we are probably looking [but] if something happens, we will see.”