Aston Villa vs Liverpool LIVE: Premier League team news, line-ups and more from Boxing Day clash

The Premier League’s blockbuster Boxing Day return continues as Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool make the trip to Birmingham to take on Unai Emery’s Aston Villa. Both teams will be hoping to hit the ground running for the back half of the season with Villa eyeing up a place in the top 10 and Liverpool hunting down a Champions League spot.

Emery’s men come into the match having won three of their last five league games including a 3-1 triumph over Manchester United. There is confidence running through the squad as the Villans are five points clear of the relegation zone and just one point off the top half of the table.

Meanwhile, Liverpool will be hoping to build some consistency after a fluctuating first half of the season. They sit sixth in the table, eight points behind fourth placed Tottenham with two games in hand on the London outfit.

Last time out the Reds lost 3-2 to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup fourth round but they put in a spirited performance which could indicate that most their players haven’t been affected by the mid-season World Cup break.

Follow all the action from Aston Villa vs Liverpool with our blog below:

Aston Villa vs Liverpool

Aston Villa FC – Liverpool FC

Aston Villa vs Liverpool

15:45 , Michael Jones

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of Boxing Day’s Premier League action. There are two more matches kicking off this evening as Aston Villa welcome Liverpool before Arsenal host West Ham in the late kick off.

Villa have won three of their last five matches and were starting to produce helpful results under new boss Unai Emery before the World Cup break hit. The midlands side are up to 12th in the table but could end the day inside the top-10 should they defeat Liverpool and other results go there way.

Liverpool’s priority is to catch up with the top four teams before potentially mounting a title challenge if they are mathematically in with a shout during the final third of the season. Their recovery starts this evening and Jurgen Klopp will feel that three points against Villa is an absolute must.

We’ll have all the build and coverage for this evening’s late games with kick off for the first match coming at 5.30pm.