Liverpool vs Aston Villa is one of the most-played fixtures in English football history. In fact, Villa have only ever faced Everton more, while the Reds have come up against just Everton, Arsenal and Manchester United on more occasions.

This, then, is a fixture with a lot of history behind it and dates all the way back to 1894. In other words, we're talking about well over a century of football, across four competitions.

Of course, they're meeting twice a season in the Premier League these days and will face each other for the 202nd time on September 3rd. What can we all expect, though? We've taken a dip into the history to find that out.

So, we at Football FanCast have broken down all the stats and history between the two clubs.

Liverpool vs Aston Villa: What's their head-to-head record?

There's an enormous sample size here as the two prepare to face for the 202nd time. In other words, there are 201 matches to go on and few clubs can boast that number against anyone in world football.

But when you first met in 1894 and have come up against each other nearly every year since, there's going to be a lot of football. Really, the only times they haven't played is when one of the two clubs were in the Second Division, usually Villa.

Though, they do have a couple of games against each other in the second tier – both were down there in the 1959/60 season.

In 201 meetings, then, Liverpool have won just over half of them with 101. Villa have 59 in response, narrowly beating out the 41 draws. It's a fixture the Reds dominate, but you can say that for pretty much every fixture they have.

Liverpool wins

101

Draws

41

Aston Villa wins

59

Liverpool vs Aston Villa: What's their record at Anfield?

Thanks to cup ties, the home and away fixtures aren't actually balanced here – fewer matches have taken place at Anfield than at Villa Park. 99 in total, meaning we're coming up on the 100th meeting on Merseyside between Liverpool and Villa.

And as with every other Anfield fixture, the Reds have a dominant record. They've won just shy of two thirds of the game with 62, while Villa have only ever won on 17 occasions. 20 have finished in draws.

It's a record reflected in the goal tally, too. Liverpool average well over two per match against Villa, having scored 214. The visitors just about make it to one per game with 103 in those 99 fixtures.

When this one takes place at Anfield, then, Liverpool find themselves feeling confident.

Liverpool wins

62

Draws

20

Aston Villa wins

17

Liverpool vs Aston Villa: What's their record at Villa Park?

Few teams have positive records against Liverpool, even on their home ground – that's a result of the Reds' incredible dominance across the 70s and 80s. Villa, though, do have a positive home record, just about.

Exactly 100 of the meetings have been there. Villa haven't quite made it to a 50 per cent win-rate, though, at 41 wins. Importantly, that still beats out Liverpool's 38 wins at Villa Park. 21 have been draws, so the hosts don't usually win this one but historically, they're more likely to get the points than the Reds.

As for goals, it's certainly far closer than it is at Anfield. Villa have 179 goals at Villa Park against Liverpool, while the latter boast 141.

Liverpool wins

38

Draws

21

Aston Villa wins

41

Liverpool vs Aston Villa: What's their record on neutral grounds?

There have been two meetings between the pair on neutral ground over the years, with both coming in FA Cup semi-finals. In fact, one of the strangest things about this fixture is that they've somehow never met in a final.

The first semi-final happened in 1996. Liverpool ran riot in that one, though, crushing Villa 3-0 at Old Trafford thanks to a Robbie Fowler brace and a Jason McAteer strike. The Reds would lose the final to Manchester United 1-0 (yes, the cream-suit final).

They'd face one another again 19 years later in the same round of the same competition, this time at Wembley. Villa got their revenge, too, as Christian Benteke (who would join Liverpool that summer) and Fabian Delph scored after Philippe Coutinho had put his side in front. However, they'd also lose their final – 4-0 to Arsenal.

Liverpool wins

1

Draws

0

Aston Villa wins

1

Liverpool vs Aston Villa: What's their Premier League record?

Of course, the vast majority of the relevant history here came in the Premier League. Liverpool have been ever-present since the start of the competition, while Villa did spend three seasons in the Championship within the last decade. On the whole, though, this has typically been a regular fixture in the top flight since 1992.

Thus there have been plenty of meetings under the Premier League banner. 56 in total, and it won't be a shock to learn that Liverpool have won the majority of those.

The Reds boast 32 Premier League wins over Villa, so they've actually upped their dominance in the fixture since 1992. Villa, in response, have just 13 wins to 11 draws.

Liverpool wins

32

Draws

11

Aston Villa wins

13

Liverpool vs Aston Villa: Which team has the most goals?

Given the records we've spoken of, you won't be shocked to learn that Liverpool do have more goals than Villa in this fixture's history. It would be quite strange if they didn't – not all of Villa's wins were 7-2, unfortunately. Just one.

The goal tally is quite close, though. Liverpool have 359 across the 201 games, so not particularly close to averaging two per game but far above one. Villa 284 goals – so again, well over one without being anywhere near two.

In just the Premier League, it's a similar story of neither averaging two but both clearing the one-per-game mark. But they are at completely opposite ends of that spectrum.

Liverpool have 97 goals in 56 Premier League games, Villa have 58. Two scoreless games for the latter, then, would see them fall to exactly one per game. The Reds know that a few high-scoring fixtures would put them over two.

Liverpool goals

359

Aston Villa goals

284

Liverpool vs Aston Villa: What's Liverpool's biggest win?

Liverpool's biggest-ever win in this fixture is the largest by either side and is actually still relatively fresh in the memory, having come in 2016. They crushed the soon-to-be-relegated Villa side 6-0 away from home.

This was Jurgen Klopp's first season in charge at Liverpool, so he didn't quite have his own squad yet. It means that the list of scorers is quite bizarre in hindsight – especially as there were six of them.

Daniel Sturridge opened the scoring, with James Milner adding a second before half-time. Emre Can then scored after the break, with Divock Origi adding a fourth just after the hour mark. Where it gets weird is that Nathaniel Clyne scored the fifth – his only Premier League goal with Liverpool. The sixth? Kolo Touré, with what was also his only Premier League goal with Liverpool.

A big win from what is a mismatched Liverpool side, in hindsight. Still, not the maddest meetings we've seen.

Liverpool vs Aston Villa: What's Aston Villa's biggest win?

We know what game jumped to your mind there and we'll get to that in a minute. But Villa's 'biggest win' isn't a straightforward one as the 7-2 you're definitely thinking of isn't actually all that unique.

Villa have beaten Liverpool by five goals before that. In fact, they beat Liverpool by five goals the year before – it was just essentially a Reds' youth team. But that's not even the only time that Villa have won by five. They've done it seven times. Now, five of these occurred before 1932, admittedly, and two were in the 19th century.

In fact, Villa beat Liverpool 5-0 in the second-ever meeting between the two clubs in 1894. They beat them 5-0 again in 1899, again in 1905. Once more in 1912. The next came in 1932 and then there is admittedly quite a big gap from that one until 2019.

But it's in 2020 that the most notable win happened – and we'll just devote a little more time to it.

Did Aston Villa really beat Liverpool 7-2?

Yes, and it's even crazier than it first seems. Not only were Liverpool favourites going into the match but they were the reigning champions. The 2019/20 campaign was a sensational one for them, with the title wrapped up by early January and, quite incredibly, they'd only dropped two points by February 29th.

But wait! It gets madder. Villa weren't exactly a side challenging the big guns, either. They'd avoided relegation by a single point in that season, meaning they were massive underdogs for the early-season clash at Villa Park. A draw would have been a great result.

Ollie Watkins gave them the lead on four minutes, however, and he doubled it on 22. Mohamed Salah replied with one on 33 minutes but John McGinn and Watkins had it at 4-1 within 10 minutes.

The second half was similar. Ross Barkley made it five on 55 minutes, but Salah scored again to pull one back right on the hour mark. Within 15 minutes, though, Jack Grealish had scored twice for 7-2 and it would remain that way until the end.

Given Liverpool's status, Villa's struggles the previous year, and just the fact that they hadn't beaten the Reds by more than two goals in the league since 1976, this was one of the most bizarre results in English football history.

Liverpool vs Aston Villa: What happened in 2022/23?

The Reds were the most successful of the two last season, winning 3-1 at Villa Park before drawing 1-1 at Anfield. Though, it's worth mentioning that these were two very different Villa sides.

The side that played in December was essentially a relegation side that stood little chance against Jurgen Klopp's team. The one in May was one of the most in-form Premier League sides, one that had shot up the table to finish in the European places.

And so even if Liverpool did have the better record, only the latter game is a fair reflection of what we'll see in September.

Liverpool vs Aston Villa: What is the recent history?

Very Liverpool-heavy. In fact, the most recent game between the two was the first time Villa avoided defeat in this fixture since the 7-2 win in 2020. Before that, the Reds had won five on the bounce.

So for those who need help with counting, that makes it five Liverpool wins and one draw across the last six fixtures. To make things look a little worse for Villa, that 7-2 is such an anomaly that it's their only Premier League win over the Reds since 2014. They only have five since 2001.

No matter what you count as 'recent' history, then, it reflects best on Liverpool. The glimmer of hope for Villa, however, is that their most recent fixture suggested there isn't really all that much between the two teams. So perhaps the most recent history can be seen as positive.

Liverpool vs Aston Villa: When is it?

Liverpool host Aston Villa on Sunday, September 3rd at 14:00 UK time. It'll be meeting no.202 between the two historic clubs and promises to tell us something about their respective seasons.

The Reds want to bounce back after a disappointing campaign last time out, of course. Beating Villa, given how good they were over the course of 2023, would be a sign that they are bouncing back.

But Unai Emery's side will see this one as a chance to prove last season wasn't merely a great run of form. Beat Liverpool and they'll be looking high up the table – it's the perfect way to undo the opening-day disaster against Newcastle United.