Aston Villa

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Former Premier League striker Glenn Murray believes Aston Villa fans saw "the Marcus Rashford of old" in the second half of Saturday's 1-1 draw against Ipswich.

The Manchester United loanee was substituted on at half-time with his side 1-0 down and impacted the game with direct running, physicality and intent.

It was his fine free-kick which hit the crossbar and fell to Ollie Watkins to score the equaliser from the rebound.

If not for some late heroics from Ipswich goalkeeper Alex Palmer, Rashford would have forced the winner when his cross was deflected towards his own goal by Conor Townsend.

A player criticised recently for his work-rate, he also recorded impressive defensive numbers, making three tackles alongside winning seven duels to illustrate his commitment to helping the team.

"I watched him and he looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders," Murray told the Football Daily podcast. "He looked like the Marcus Rashford of old - running at people, committing defenders, being positive in his end product.

"We all knew it was there, we all knew he was capable of it. It's been a long time coming. Aston Villa fans will hope they continue to see that. Really refreshing from Marcus Rashford."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

For Manchester United, Marcus Rashford scored seven goals in 19 games against Liverpool in all competitions, including the Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup.

His most notable was his performance at Old Trafford in 2018, when a then 20-year-old Rashford received the ball from a Romelu Lukaku flick-on, raced into the Liverpool box, cut inside Trent Alexander-Arnold and then fired the ball into the bottom corner.

He also scored his side's second goal by running onto a loose ball inside the 18-yard box and curling it into the far corner.

Villa fans will be hoping he can make the same impact against the league leaders tomorrow if the Manchester United loanee plays a part in the fixture.

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It is a hectic few weeks for Liverpool, with the Reds having league games pretty much every three days until the end of the month - starting with Aston Villa on Wednesday, followed quickly by a trip to former title foes Manchester City on Sunday.

The Reds play just one league game in March - a home fixture against bottom club Southampton - but that's not to say it is a quiet month, with the small matter of the EFL Cup final against Newcastle on 16 March.

On either 4 or 5 March, Liverpool will also have the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, when they will travel to one of Paris St-Germain, Benfica, Monaco or Brest. The return leg at Anfield will take place a week later.

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Liverpool's final 13 Premier League games:

• 19 February: Aston Villa (A)
• 23 February: Man City (A)
• 26 February: Newcastle (H)
• 8 March: Southampton (H)
• 2 April: Everton (H)
• 5 April: Fulham (A)
• 12 April: West Ham (H)
• 19 April: Leicester (A)
• 26 April: Tottenham (H)
• 3 May: Chelsea (A)
• 10 May: Arsenal (H)
• 18 May: Brighton (A)
• 25 May: Crystal Palace (H)

As it stands, Liverpool have a seven-point cushion over Arsenal with 13 games of the season remaining...

Liverpool

A final word from Liverpool manager Arne Slot on managing Diogo Jota's minutes: "We have missed our number nine that played in the first seven or eight games, but now he is back. He played 60 [minutes against Wolves] and with the decent amount of games we play now you don't expect him to play 90, 90, 90 in the upcoming [three] matches [against Aston Villa, Manchester City and Newcastle], but he will be involved, hopefully, in all the three games and hopefully with a lot of minutes as well."

Liverpool

More from Liverpool manager Arne Slot on Joe Gomez: "He will miss large parts of the end of the season but we expect him to be back in the final phase of the season."

On whether he will need surgery: "He might, but that is something we still have to assess."

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Liverpool

Liverpool manager Arne Slot on the mental toll of playing every three days and why his side struggled to bounce back from their draw at Everton: "It depends on how the game went. That's why I said that after the Everton game that it wasn't a surprise to me the players were more tired than they maybe were in previous games because of the way that game went - all the things that happened, especially in the last eight minutes, that cost a lot of energy for everyone that was involved.

"That's why you can't compare tomorrow with last Sunday [against Wolves], I think. We had a good win. We didn't play our best football but to go away with a win gives us a different reaction than after the Everton game, where we eventually conceded in the last second with so many things happening."

Liverpool

Liverpool manager Arne Slot on using his players' title-winning experience: "We lean a lot on the players. We train with them, we try to prepare them. We have a pre-match meeting to try to prepare them in the best possible way.

"From that moment onwards you lean on the players - how much work-rate do they want to put in, how well to they execute the game plan, how do they adapt to what the other team does?

"I think it helps you if a team or a player already won something but don't make that too big because you still have to play for it."

Liverpool

More from Arne Slot on the experiences he can call upon from winning the title with Feyenoord, when his side claimed a flurry of 1-0 wins in the run-in: "It always helps if you have experienced it already, and that is not only for me that is also for the players. But it is difficult to take experiences from that time into this time - different players, different opponents, different league.

"However, it tells you again what I have said so many times - that in the end phase of the season a lot of games are really tight. Not only ours. If I look at all the results, even Barcelona yesterday, who I admire a lot and have played really good football this season, in the end they were close to conceding the 1-1.

"It is the end phase of the season where results like this are quite common, like in our title-winning season with Feyenoord as well. It tells you that you have to fight until the end and these games you need to win to achieve something."

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Liverpool

Liverpool manager Arne Slot on his side's nerves against Wolves: "It is because we are going to the end of the season - not because of us but what people make of it. We have won other games at home or away by one goal when it was also tight. I remember Crystal Palace away when it was tight in the end.

"If this happens at the end of the season people will talk about nerves, but to secure a win in the Premier League if you are only leading by only one goal is always going to be a lot of defending and a lot of hard work.

"During large parts of the season it is just hard work, but at the end of the season we talk about nerves."

Liverpool

Liverpool manager Arne Slot on Aston Villa's move for Marcus Rashford: "The first time I faced him in real life was the USA tour and I was impressed. I was really impressed how fast he is, how he has a nice height and is comfortable with the ball, so I think he is a very good player.

"I hope for him that he is going to show that at Villa. Of course I am not hoping that he will do this tomorrow but I would be completely surprised if a player of his quality is not going to show it because he is a very good player in my opinion."

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Liverpool

More from Arne Slot on Aston Villa's recent record - without a Premier League win since mid-January: "When you get the fixture list I think Villa away you look at as one of the tougher ones you can face. Last season was also a very interesting game, with it ending 3-3 if I remember correctly.

"[They have] a very good manager [Unai Emery] who always has a very good game plan. He has brought in quite a lot of good players in the winter break, and they already had a very good team. They qualified for top eight in the Champions League, so it tells you it is a strong team we are going to face.

"Every game in this period of time for every team in the league is difficult."

Liverpool

Liverpool manager Arne Slot on the opportunity to open a 10-point gap over Arsenal with a victory at Aston Villa on Wednesday: "I see it as 13 games to be played and the next game as the most important one. Villa away, like Wolves at home, is again a difficult game.

"They have a great home record, maybe even more when they play in the evening, so we know that is going to be a challenge but we have quite an OK away record this season. We have done quite OK this season in general as well so it is a game for everyone to look forward to."

Liverpool

Liverpool manager Arne Slot started with an update on the fitness of Joe Gomez and Cody Gakpo: "Both are unavailable for tomorrow. Cody is the closest to coming back but Joe will take quite some time. He is going to be out for a number of weeks because of a hamstring injury.

"It's a big blow for Joe and for us. He tries to do everything to be with the team. He works really hard to come back and then the first game when he came back after two or three minutes we saw him making a sprint and now he is out for weeks again.

"So that's always very hard for a player in every part of the season, let alone a part of the season everyone is looking forward to."

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Liverpool

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has had a couple of days to reflect on Sunday's victory over Wolves.

We will be hearing from him again shortly ahead of the Reds' next Premier League test of their title credentials at Aston Villa on Wednesday.

All important injury news to watch out for:

• Cody Gakpo picked up a knock during Liverpool's draw at Everton and missed Sunday's win at home to Wolves.
• England defender Joe Gomez is out with a thigh injury and not expected to return until early March.
• Curtis Jones will return from suspension following the red card he picked up at Goodison Park.

Julian: Getting a new stadium like Bramley Dock built is so hard. It's a huge achievement, like winning the Champions League, it should not be underestimated one bit. Cherish it Toffees!

Arsenal might be on a 15-match unbeaten run in the Premier League, but Liverpool manager Arne Slot pointed out that the Reds have maintained their advantage during that time.

Since the Gunners' last league defeat at Newcastle on 2 November, Mikel Arteta's side have won 10 matches and drawn five.

"As things now stand it looks mostly as if it is between us and Arsenal," said Slot following his side's nervy 2-1 win over Wolves at Anfield on Sunday.

"I think I saw before the game they have had a 15-game unbeaten run. If I am correct, between then and now, we were seven points clear then and still we are so it tells you how well we are doing, but also how well they are doing."

Chris Sutton
Former Premier League winner on Football Daily

What surprises me a little bit about that [Andy Robertson's comments], is this is Andy Robertson who, along with a lot of players within the Liverpool team, has been there, done it and won the big trophies. You think well there's a fair bit of the season to go and if he's coming out and saying they are nervous now well then it may be a little bit of a worry.

But if this is Liverpool's blip - the reserves get knocked out of the FA Cup, they concede an equaliser in the dying seconds of the Merseyside derby and don't play well against Wolves - well they are still seven points clear. It's just about winning now and they did it. Seven points is a big gap at this stage.