Arne Slot’s team can extend their lead at the top to 10 points with victory at Villa Park. Liverpool travel to Aston Villa for a midweek Premier League clash knowing that a week would extend their lead in the title race to 10 points. Arne Slot’s side enter a crucial week with a seven-point lead over Arsenal in second place, but with tricky fixtures to come away at Manchester City on Sunday and at home to Newcastle United next week. However, the Reds - who held out for a nervy 2-1 win over a resolute Wolves side on Sunday - will know that coming through a testing period unscathed would be a huge step towards the title in Slot’s first season in charge.
Unai Emery’s men, meanwhile, are chasing the European spots. Villa are already through the last-16 of the Champions League this season and will want to guarantee another campaign next year. They are ninth in the Premier League and can leap up to seventh with a win at Villa Park. Follow all the Premier League action with our live blog below:. Liverpool boss Arne Slot on Liverpool team news and updates on Cody Gakpo and Joe Gomez:.
“Both are unavailable. Cody is the closer to being back but Joe will take quite a long time. He is going to be out for a number of weeks because of a hamstring injury. “It’s a big blow for Joe and for us. He tries to do everything to be with the team. He works really hard to come back and then the first game when he came back after two or three minutes we saw him making a sprint and now he is out for weeks again.
“So that’s always very hard for a player in every part of the season, let alone a part of the season everyone is looking forward to.”. Villa boss Unai Emery has one more new injury concern, with Boubacar Kamara forced off just 16 minutes into the draw with Ipswich at the weekend. He will likely face a late fitness test. Ezri Konsa is unlikely to be back in time to face Liverpool, while Pau Torres and Matty Cash remain sidelined in defence and Amadou Onana is still some time away from a return. Ollie Watkins should be fit to start again, while Leon Bailey could return to the squad.
Cody Gakpo will not feature but is nearing a return after missing the win over Wolves due to a knock, but Curtis Jones returns after serving his suspension. Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton remain sidelined. The match kicks off at 7.30pm GMT on Wednesday, 19 February at Villa Park. The match will be shown live in the UK on TNT Sports 2, with coverage starting at 6.30pm. Subscribers can also watch online via discovery+.
It’s a big evening in the Premier League title race as Aston Villa host Liverpool, with the visitors looking to go 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League. With no other sides in action in midweek, the Reds could take a 10-point lead into the weekend with just 12 games left to play, having squeezed past Wolves in their last outing. And they face a Villa side who have been on a mixed run of form in recent weeks, with the weekend’s draw against 10-man Ipswich meaning that the Villains are back in eighth, six points behind the Champions League places.
