Aston Villa and Liverpool Lineups

Aston Villa hosts Liverpool at Villa Park in the penultimate Premier League fixture. Both teams currently sit fifth and fourth respectively in the standings, level on points, with Liverpool holding the advantage on goal difference. Both sides are on the cusp of securing a Champions League spot for next season, and a victory today would guarantee qualification for one of them.

In recent weeks, the Birmingham side has seemingly prioritized their Europa League final aspirations over their league form. Unai Emery's team has managed to collect just one point from their last three Premier League outings. Furthermore, Villa has only secured one victory in their last 16 league encounters against the Merseyside club.

Liverpool has also struggled in their last two league matches, suffering a defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford and drawing with Chelsea at Anfield. Arne Slot's side has been far from convincing on the road, ranking ninth in the Premier League for away form, having lost eight of their 18 away fixtures.

Unai Emery has opted for a strong lineup, despite the upcoming Europa League final against Freiburg next Wednesday. He has made three changes from the Burnley match, with Pau Torres, Luca Digne, and Emiliano Buendía starting in place of Tyrone Mings, Ian Maatsen, and Ross Barkley.

Slot has made just one change from the Chelsea game, with Joe Gomez coming in for Jeremie Frimpong, who is not in the squad for today's match. Alexander Isak is also absent. However, Mohamed Salah and Florian Wirtz return to the squad but start on the bench. Seventeen-year-old talent Rio Ngumoha makes his second consecutive start.