Liverpool will look look to continue their title charge as they travel to Aston Villa for their rescheduled Premier League fixture on Wednesday. Leading the league by seven points, Arne Slot's team will be keen to maintain the gap to second-placed Arsenal.
Injury-hit Aston Villa, meanwhile, have plenty of firepower at the top end of the pitch after bringing in Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio on loan and will be keen to get on a winning run of their own as they seek to close down the six-point gap to the Champions League places. After impressing in cameos against Ipswich in the league and Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup, it will be interesting to see if Unai Emery will give both Rashford and Asensio a go from the start against a Liverpool defence that has looked porous over the past few games.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of Aston Villa vs Liverpool:
How to watch:
The match will be available on TNT Sports 1 in the UK and on USA network in the United States. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 7.30 p.m. GMT (2.30 p.m. ET)
Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham
Referee: Craig Pawson
VAR: Alex Chilowicz
Injury news:
Aston Villa
Amadou Onana, M, hamstring, OUT
Ezri Konsa, D, muscle, OUT, estimated return late Feb
Matty Cash, D, muscle, OUT, estimated return late Feb
Pau Torres, D, foot, OUT, estimated return late Feb
Ross Barkley, M, calf, OUT
Liverpool
Cody Gakpo, F, knock, DOUBT
Joe Gomez, D, hamstring, DOUBT
Tyler Morton, M, shoulder, OUT, estimated return late Feb
Expected Lineups:
Aston Villa
GK: Emi Martinez
LB: Lucas Digne | CB: Boubacar Kamara | CB: Axel Disasi | RB: Andres Garcia
CM: John McGinn | CM: Youri Tielemans
RW: Morgan Rogers | CAM: Marco Asensio | LW: Marcus Rashford
CF: Ollie Watkins
Liverpool
GK: Alisson Becker
LB: Andy Robertson | CB: Virgil van Dijk | CB: Ibrahima Konate | RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold
CM: Alexis Mac Allister | CM: Ryan Gravenberch | CM: Dominik Szoboszlai
LW: Luis Diaz | CF: Darwin Nunez | RW: Mohamed Salah
Stats:
1 - Aston Villa have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games against Liverpool (D2 L11), a 7-2 victory at Villa Park in October 2020
37 - With 37 goal contributions so far this league season, Salah is already tied with Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane's best-ever seasons in the Premier League. He is five away from his personal best season (2017-18, 42) and 10 away from the best-ever season in Premier League history by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole (47).
Latest news and analysis:
Liverpool's nervy win vs. Wolves shows title race far from over
On Wednesday night, Liverpool were only seconds away from going nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table. At times on Sunday afternoon, it felt like it would only be a matter of time before their advantage at the summit was reduced to four.
Liverpool's victory fuelled by derby chaos - Arne Slot
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said he believes his team's nervy performance against Wolverhampton Wanderers was partly fueled by the frustration of Wednesday night's dramatic Merseyside derby draw with Everton.
Aston Villa held to frustrating 1-1 draw by 10-man Ipswich
A Liam Delap goal helped Ipswich Town overcome a red card for Axel Tuanzebe as they grabbed a 1-1 Premier League draw away to Aston Villa on Saturday, with Ollie Watkins netting a 69th-minute equaliser for the home side.