Credit: Imago

Tom Griffin

Wed 29 October 2025 18:15, UK

Liverpool are going through their most difficult period of the Arne Slot era after falling further behind in the Premier League title race.

Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat to Brentford at the weekend marked the fourth top-flight game in a row that Arne Slot’s men have lost.

With their defence in disarray and attack disjointed, the Reds are devoid of any confidence and need to turn their form around to avoid seeing Arsenal create a bigger gap at the top.

On Wednesday (October 29), Liverpool host Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup fourth round, and that should act as a welcome distraction to their league form.

But ahead of their Premier League clash against Aston Villa on Sunday, one piece of news won’t fill supporters with hope.

Stuart Attwell will referee Liverpool vs Aston Villa

Stuart Attwell has been placed in charge of Liverpool’s meeting with Villa this weekend, and the experienced official comes with mixed reviews.

Whilst former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has praised Attwell, particularly for his performance during Arsenal vs Manchester City, he has also received his fair share of criticism.

In January 2025, Liverpool were beaten 1-0 by Tottenham in the first leg of their Carabao Cup tie, and supporters were annoyed at one decision he made.

Spurs midfielder Lucas Bergvall should have arguably been sent off for a reckless challenge on Kostas Tsimikas, and the Swede ended up scoring the winning goal.

Liverpool fans weren’t happy with the call not to award the 19-year-old a second yellow, and that sadly cost them any chance of victory.

Liverpool’s H2H record vs Aston Villa

Slot will be hoping that another big decision doesn’t go against his side this weekend, as the Dutchman needs everything on his side to turn their fortunes around.

A home fixture against Villa arguably isn’t the most favourable, having watched Unai Emery’s men win three in a row, but the Reds do have a strong recent record.

Since their infamous 7-2 defeat in 2020, Liverpool have gone unbeaten in 10 meetings with the Villans while winning four of their last five clashes at Anfield.