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Liverpool begin a hugely pivotal week in their bid to win the Premier League title with a tough test away to Aston Villa, live on talkSPORT.

The Reds restored their seven-point lead over Arsenal at the top of the table by beating Wolves on Sunday but were pushed hard.

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Salah extended his own lead at the top of the Golden Boot standingsCredit: Getty

Arne Slot's men narrowly avoided a second successive 2-2 draw within a matter of days after holding on to a 2-1 victory at Anfield.

Liverpool have shown the first chink in their armour this month, having drawn against Everton after crashing out of the FA Cup.

The Merseysiders now face two testing away trips in the same week against Villa and champions Manchester City four days later.

Unai Emery's side are first up as they seek a first Premier League win in five to reignite their push for Champions League qualification.

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Villa were held to a 1-1 draw against relegation strugglers Ipswich Town last time out, despite the Tractor Boys playing the entirety of the second-half with ten men.

This Premier League game is set to take place on Wednesday, February 19.

Kick-off at Villa Park is scheduled for 7:30pm.

It will be broadcast on TNT Sports 2, which had the rights to screen the initial fixture, with coverage commencing an hour before kick-off.

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Sky customers can access the match on channel number 411, or if you're with Virgin it's on 528.

For fans who don't have access to TNT Sports, it will also be streamed via Discovery+ - sign-up details can be found here.

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Ollie Watkins rescued a point for Villa after Marcus Rashford's free-kick had hit the crossbarCredit: GettyAston Villa’s Marcus Rashford scored five goals in eight home Premier League appearances against Liverpool for Manchester United – his most home goals against any side in the competition.

Indeed, excluding penalties, the only players with more home Premier League goals against Liverpool are Sergio Agüero (7), Thierry Henry (6), and Jamie Vardy (6).With 14 goals and nine assists in Liverpool’s 13 away games in the Premier League this season, Mo Salah has the most ever goal involvements by a player away from home in a single campaign in the competition (23).

He is also one assist away from becoming only the third player to assist 10+ goals in away games in a Premier League season, after Muzzy Izzet in 2003-04 (10) and Cesc Fàbregas in 2014-15 (11).Only against Brighton (7) and Arsenal (6) has Ollie Watkins scored more goals in the Premier League than he has against Liverpool (5).

Among opponents he has faced 5+ times in his managerial career, that win rate of 8% against Liverpool is his lowest.Aston Villa have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games against Liverpool (D2 L11), a 7-2 victory at Villa Park in October 2020.This exact fixture finished 3-3 last season – Liverpool haven’t failed to win consecutive away league games against Aston Villa since December 2004.The last seven Premier League meetings between Aston Villa and Liverpool at Villa Park have produced a total of 33 goals, an average of 4.7 per game.

Liverpool have scored at least twice in all seven of these games (20 goals in total).

The hosts were handed a double injury scare after Boubacar Kamara and Leon Bailey both sustained fitness issues at the weekend.

Updates on the duo's availability is yet to be confirmed, with Villa currently in the midst of a defensive injury crisis.

Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Ross Barkley, Amadou Onana, and Matty Cash are all in the treatment room.

Marcus Rashford could make his first start since joining on loan from Liverpool's rivals Manchester United after impressing off the bench.

The visitors are sweating on the fitness of Cody Gakpo, after the Dutchman missed the win over Wolves through injury.

Liverpool will definitely be without Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton, but Curtis Jones is back in contention after serving a suspension.

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Gakpo is an injury doubt for the RedsCredit: AFP

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Liverpool restore their seven-point lead at the top of the tableAston Villa have lost six of their last seven Premier League games against sides starting the day top of the table; the exception, however, was their last such home game, beating Arsenal 1-0 in December 2023.

In English top-flight history, on only five occasions has a side avoided defeat in their first 14+ matches on the road from the start of a campaign: Leeds United in 1973-74 (15), Liverpool in 1987-88 (15), Arsenal in 2001-02 (19), Arsenal in 2003-04 (19), and Manchester United in 2020-21 (19).Liverpool are yet to lose a Premier League away game under Arne Slot, with his 13 games (W9 D4) the outright longest unbeaten start on the road by any manager in the competition’s history, surpassing the record set by John Gregory with Aston Villa of 12 games from March to November 1998.

Arne Slot appeared unfazed by the nervy end to Liverpool's win over Wolves - despite his side not having a shot during the second half.

It is the first time the club have failed to do so in a single half of Premier League football at Anfield since such records were first kept during the 2003/04 season.

Slot admitted after the match that 'it's never the game plan' to not threaten the opposition goal, but insists he's not concerned by the performance.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he explained: "In a season where you want to achieve something, no matter what you want to achieve, you need to have wins like this as well.

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"Two weeks ago, we played fantastic football when we beat Spurs 4-0, that's in a season.
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