Aston Villa resumes Premier League play on Boxing Day at home against Liverpool in an effort to extend their winning streak to three games under Unai Emery.
The Reds, meanwhile, have already resumed competitive play following the World Cup break, as their EFL Cup defense came to an end in the fourth round with a 3-2 loss to Manchester City.
Liverpool with a trip to face Aston Villa as Jurgen Klopp looks to close the seven-point gap between his side and a Champions League place. The Merseyside club find themselves in sixth place in the league below the likes of Tottenham, Manchester United and Newcastle United despite going into the season as one of the favourites to lift the league title.
Despite a host of injury worries, Liverpool will be looking to make it six straight Boxing Day wins in the league, winning each of their last five matches by an aggregate score of 15-0, keeping five straight clean sheets.
The ever-controversial Emiliano Martinez recently became World Cup champion with Argentina and will not be available here, but the goalkeeper will receive a talking-to from Emery after his perpetual mocking of Kylian Mbappe in the Albiceleste celebrations.
Robin Olsen – assuming that he can overcome a minor unspecified problem – will therefore deputise for Villa, who remain without long-term absentee Diego Carlos, and Jacob Ramsey will take a couple of weeks to recover from a thigh problem.
Ex-Reds attacker Philippe Coutinho is touch and go with a thigh injury but was never likely to start against his former club, although Danny Ings’s brace against Brighton will benefit his chances of lining up against his previous employers.
Similarly, Liverpool are without their own World Cup representative in France’s Ibrahima Konate, who will not return to training until December 27, but Virgil van Dijk should make a timely return in the heart of defence.
On a more negative note, the injuries are piling up for Klopp once again, as James Milner (hamstring) and Roberto Firmino (calf) will miss the next couple of matches, joining Curtis Jones, Arthur, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota on the treatment table. Trent Alexander-Arnold should be fine after illness, though.
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Alisson Becker will also return in goal for EFL Cup specialist Caoimhin Kelleher, while Darwin Nunez will be given a second bite of the cherry after wasting a multitude of chances at the Etihad.
