Aston Villa return to Premier League action with a home game against Liverpool on Boxing Day.
Unai Emery only took charge of three Villa matches – winning both of his Premier League bouts – before the World Cup ushered in a winter hiatus, leaving his new club in 12th during the off-season.
Liverpool are up in sixth but only four points better off than the side which parted company with Steven Gerrard in October. Jurgen Klopp’s team has been consistently inconsistent this term; in the final month of the Premier League’s first act, Liverpool defeated Manchester City and Tottenham yet also lost to relegation candidates Leeds and Nottingham Forest.
Here’s everything you need to know about a gift of a game the day after Christmas.
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Aston Villa vs Liverpool H2H Results (Last Five Games)
Current Form (Last Five Games)
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Aston Villa team news
There is a chance that Philippe Coutinho will be available for the visit of his former employers this Monday. Liverpool’s most expensive sale has been spotted back in training after sitting out the first weeks of Emery’s reign with a thigh injury.
Diego Carlos isn’t expected back from a ruptured Achilles tendon until February.
The Polish pairing of Matty Cash and Jan Bednarek have returned from Qatar with Belgium’s Leander Dendoncker but the World Cup winning goalkeeper Emi Martinez is unlikely to feature before January.
Aston Villa Starting 11 (4-4-2): Olsen; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; McGinn, Kamara, Luiz, Buendia; Bailey, Watkins.
Bench: Marschall, Young, Ings, Chambers, Augustinsson, Nakamba, Coutinho, Dendoncker, Archer.
Liverpool team news
James Milner hobbled off with a hamstring injury in the first half of Liverpool’s thrilling Carabao Cup tie with Manchester City on Thursday night. The veteran midfield joins a heartily populated treatment room.
Roberto Firmino and Curtis Jones could be back from their minor muscular problems as soon as early January. Diogo Jota (calf) and Arthur Melo (thigh) aren’t set to return until February while the wait for Luis Diaz’s recovery could stretch until March after he underwent knee surgery.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was one of several squad members affected by a virus travelling through the squad but may well have recovered by Boxing Day.
Liverpool Starting 11 (4-3-3): Alisson;…
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