Sibling rivalry: Q&A with my brother, the Liverpool fan

Villa and Liverpool have had some pretty memorable matches in the past decade, made even more so due to the fact that my younger brother, for some inexplicable reason, is a Liverpool fan. Remember in 2014, VIlla 2-1 up, when Luis Suarez served up a classic swan dive in the general vicinity of Brad Guzan? Yeah, me too - my fury doubled when I look over at my brother nodding his head at the referee's decision. Infuriating. Even more infuriating is the way they've completely ruined Villa legend Christian Benteke. Anyways, it's always enjoyable to see Liverpool failing, and they certainly are lately. Hopefully it gives Villa a chance to snatch a point or two. Let's see what the black sheep of the family has to say about some of that.

Liverpool just lost in the Cup to West Ham, which I of course find hysterical, and you haven't won a game since the match of the season 5-4 win against Norwich. You couldn't even beat Sunderland, for crying out loud. WE even beat Sunde-Oh, no we didn't, we don't beat anyone. Still, not that I'm not enjoying every moment of this collapse, what in the world is going on over there?

First of all, West Ham is a very improved side this year. Second, in a year when the Premier League is topsy-turvy, anything can happen. With that said, we dominated the cup game, but came away with nothing. With a team that cannot seem to figure out how to defend set pieces, it's no wonder that we can't stop conceding. On the other end of the pitch, we have a striker in Benteke who needs to go on an Eat Pray Love journey and find himself again. The one-on-one he had in the cup game was a microcosm of his time at Liverpool. We look like a team that lacks an identity, with only flashes of Klopp's famous geggen-pressing style. With a shaky back four and no goalscorer, it's pretty obvious what is going on. On the plus side, the young players have looked promising. I'm hoping the likes of Brad Smith, Kevin Stewart, and Cameron Brannagan can break into the first-team soon. And with Sturridge (god willing), Coutinho, and Origi healthy, maybe we can grab some points and string some games together.

A lot has been made about Liverpool fans walking out after 77 minutes in the match against Sunderland to protest ticket prices. Two parts to this question: a) How do you feel about the whole ticket price protests? b) Do you think the fans walking out had anything to do with the two goals given up by Liverpool in the last ten minutes?

The heart and soul of this football club is the fans. If you've ever listened to a pre-match "You'll never walk alone", you get a sense of how much the club means to the supporters. With that said I full heartedly support the protest. The Fenway Sports Group recently apologized for the ticket increase and froze the price at 56 pounds. A smart decision by a group of people who are not the most popular in Liverpool.

Absolutely I think that the fans had a huge impact on that game. When the fans walked out, we stopped dominating the game. You could see the players look around at the empty seats, and it definitely had an effect.

It physically and emotionally pains me to see the way you guys are ruining Christian Benteke. I mean, thanks for the boatload of cash, but you're wasting our hero. You know what's going to happen, right? You're going to get as much money as you can for him this summer, and he's gonna go on to be absolutely dominant wherever he ends up, leaving you looking like the fools you are.

Andy Carroll 2.0. Hopefully he goes to China so we can get 50 mil for him.

Who would you rather fight: Angry Jurgen Klopp

— Dave O'Grady (@DaveOGrady1) January 2, 2016

or Angry Mamadou Sakho?

— LFC Photo (@LFCphoto) October 4, 2015

Klopp, easy decision.

Out of the two of us, who's Gary Neville and who's Phil Neville?

I think we would be more like the twins, Rafael and Fabio - both shit.

What's your favorite memory of a Villa-Liverpool game?

The 5-0 pounding we gave you back in '08.

You wouldn't really want your big brother to get relegated, would you? Think of everything you'd miss. I know for a fact that there are other teams you dislike more than Villa in the Premier League.

I would love to see Villa pull off a great escape somehow. But if that doesn't happen, it'll be fun to see your Villa play our dad's Leeds in a game of the "has-beens".

When we go down, Liverpool, as they always do, will be first in line to steal away some of Villa's best players. Who will it be this summer?

We want Aly Cissokho back. We miss him...

Thanks for letting us host Tiago Ilori on his holiday abroad. His time at Villa will go down as a thing that definitely happened.

You're welcome, another great center back that Liverpool will surely get rid of in the summer. Maybe Sunderland will take him and reunite him with Coates as a dynamic duo of those just not good enough.

My favorite Liverpool player has to be Simon Mignolet, because he's somehow still your keeper despite making hilarious mistakes every other week. (Case in point) PLUS he signed a long-term contract extension just a few weeks ago. I know how much you love him - go on, sign his praises.

I think I could be heard across the pond screaming for Jack Butland this January. My vocal cords weren't strong enough apparently.

We're on a hot streak (for our standards), you're on a terrible streak (for your standards). This is probably the best time for us to be playing Liverpool, while it's probably the worst time for you to be playing us. So how many goals are Villa going to win by?

Depends how many set pieces you get.

Thanks, bro.