Tom Hanks sends message to Liverpool as Hollywood star spotted at Aston Villa

It’s not often you see Hollywood stars turning up at Premier League matches. Tom Hanks was therefore a surprise guest when Liverpool took on Aston Villa on Monday.

Given that the Reds are one of the biggest clubs in the world and have grown in popularity in the United States, you would have expected the Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan star to have been at Villa Park to support Jürgen Klopp’s side. Instead, Hanks had introduced himself for the hosts.

The two-time Oscar winner is a self-proclaimed Villa fan who started supporting them after a previous visit to the UK. He has appeared in matches in the past and was present to see his side come back from 3-1 down to salvage a point against Liverpool.

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Ahead of the game, he spoke about the problems he is having following Villa on US soil, while he looks set to make a subtle bid at Liverpool.

“One of the problems with being in the United States, every time you read the football media, you always find those other teams,” Hanks said. “I’m looking for a story about Villa and you get those two Manchester teams and the ones that are in red But more and more you start to see stories on Villa.”

Hanks added: “I was here a year ago for the first time and it was a magical thing. Whenever I’m in the UK I always check my schedule to see if I can get to Villa Park and it turns out I get to see Villa make history tonight. Up Villa!”

Liverpool.com says: Liverpool will obviously be one of those teams in red that Hanks is talking about. To be fair, there are probably a lot more Liverpool fans in the US than Aston Villa supporters, so they’ll obviously get more coverage!

Villa should get a bit more attention next season with Unai Emery ready to take them to the Champions League. Hanks would love a trip to the Bernabéu or Camp Nou if his side face one of the big boys!