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Dean Smith: 'We must show more personality in relegation battle'

:Headline: Dean Smith: 'We must show more personality in relegation battle':
Villa are a point from safety heading into Sunday's game at Anfield.

Dean Smith has called on Aston Villa to express themselves as they fight to avoid Premier League the relegation.

The strugglers go to new champions Liverpool on Sunday third bottom and a point from safety.

Smith's side are winless since the top flight restarted last month with six games left to avoid an immediate return to the Sky Bet Championship.

Villa have scored the most goals out of the bottom four, although talisman Jack Grealish has not netted since January, and Smith wants to see more character.

"We have total belief and total determination," he said.

"The mental strength and belief is there, I want them to show more personality on the ball.

"They are representing themselves, their families, the rest of their team-mates and what we're missing at the moment is the fans.

"They (the players) feel like they're in a better place than when the break started.

"We've restricted three top-eight teams to very few chances, so defensively we are in a good place, but we need to have better quality in the final third.

"The lads aren't too disheartened because they know that they've played well, we've certainly defended better, we just have to put our chances away."

Liverpool lost 4-0 at Manchester City on Thursday, their first game after being crowned champions.

They have won every top-flight game at Anfield this season and Smith does not expect any let-up from Liverpool despite finally winning their first title in 30 years.

"I'll think we will see similar to what we have seen week in, week out," he told a press conference.

"They will be a little bit sore from getting beaten 4-0, but we know that their attitude is going to be there.

"I saw it as he (Jurgen Klopp) did – they had as many chances as Manchester City and their attitude was spot on.

"We have a chance, we made Liverpool work really hard (a late 2-1 defeat at Villa Park) and we were three minutes away from getting the victory ourselves."

Matt Targett is out after picking up a hamstring injury in the 1-0 defeat against Wolves with Ezri Konsa struggling with a foot problem.

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last updated article - 2020-07-03 12:00:11:
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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLiverpool33292272254789
2Manchester CityMan City33213981344766
3Leicester CityLeicester33177963313258
4Chelsea331761060441657
5Manchester UnitedMan Utd331510856332355
6Wolverhampton WanderersWolves33131374536952
7Arsenal33121384941849
8Tottenham HotspurSpurs33139115244848
9Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd33121293433148
10Burnley33137133746-946
11Everton33128134048-844
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle331110123545-1043
13Southampton33134164255-1343
14Crystal Palace33119132840-1242
15Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton33812133544-936
16West Ham UnitedWest Ham3387184058-1831
17Watford33610172952-2328
18Aston Villa3376203662-2627
19Bournemouth3376203259-2727
20Norwich CityNorwich3356222561-3621
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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLiverpool33292272254789
2Manchester CityMan City33213981344766
3Leicester CityLeicester33177963313258
4Chelsea331761060441657
5Manchester UnitedMan Utd331510856332355
6Wolverhampton WanderersWolves33131374536952
7Arsenal33121384941849
8Tottenham HotspurSpurs33139115244848
9Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd33121293433148
10Burnley33137133746-946
11Everton33128134048-844
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle331110123545-1043
13Southampton33134164255-1343
14Crystal Palace33119132840-1242
15Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton33812133544-936
16West Ham UnitedWest Ham3387184058-1831
17Watford33610172952-2328
18Aston Villa3376203662-2627
19Bournemouth3376203259-2727
20Norwich CityNorwich3356222561-3621
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