Jacob Ramsey is ruled out with a hamstring problem.

Liverpool’s World Cup players should all be involved except Ibrahima Konate, who returns to training on 27 December.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ought to be back after illness but James Milner and Roberto Firmino will miss the next two games.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• Aston Villa have lost eight of the nine most recent league meetings, with the exception being an extraordinary 7-2 home victory in October 2020.
• Liverpool’s only other defeat in their past 21 Premier League visits to Villa Park came in May 2011 (W14, D5, L2).
• The solitary previous Boxing Day league fixture between these teams was Liverpool’s 2-1 away victory in 2001.

Aston Villa

• Villa have won three of their past four league matches, including both under Unai Emery. They had only managed two victories in their final 15 attempts under Steven Gerrard (D5, L8).
• They can earn three consecutive Premier League home wins in a season for the first time since a run of four from August to October 2007.

However, Aston Villa have lost an unrivalled seven Boxing Day home games in the Premier League.

• Emery’s only triumph in seven fixtures as a manager against Jurgen Klopp in all competitions was Sevilla’s 3-1 victory versus Liverpool in the 2016 Europa League final.
• With four goals in four games, Danny Ings has scored as many times as in his previous 26 league appearances 

Liverpool

• Liverpool, in sixth, are outside the top four on Christmas Day for the first time since 2015-16 when Jurgen Klopp had been manager for only two months.
• The Reds have dropped 20 points in their 14 league matches this season. They only dropped 22 points in the whole of 2021-22.
• They are looking to win three top-flight fixtures in a row for the first time this season.
• Liverpool have won five consecutive Boxing Day games by an aggregate score of 15-0 since a 2-1 defeat at Manchester City in 2013.
• They can equal the top-flight record for most successive Boxing Day clean sheets: six by Manchester United from 1996 to 2001.
• Klopp could match Mauricio Pochettino’s Premier League record of five wins from as many Boxing Day fixtures as a manager.
• Mohamed Salah has scored in each of his past four starts against Aston Villa in all competitions.
• Joe Gomez is one short of 100 Premier League appearances.
• Andrew Robertson is level with Leighton Baines as the defender with the most assists in Premier League history. They both have 53.