Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool are in search of their tenth win this Premier League season. They will travel to Villa Park to contest all three points in a ground in which they've claimed more away wins than any other in the competition's history.

Liverpool are aiming to stretch their top-flight record of 27 unbeaten matches in a row, then held in 1988. The Reds are unbeaten this season after beating Tottenham 2-1 last time out in the league.

With Manchester City breathing down the neck of the league leaders, a win in the West Midlands is a must for Klopp's Redmen.

Although, Villa won't back down without a fight after impressing at the Etihad until unfortunate errors and VAR mishaps ruled Villa out of an upset in Eastlands.

A midweek boost for Villa came from a much-needed injury update on captain Jack Grealish. The Villa skipper is in contention to start against Liverpool after leaving Manchester on crutches before inevitably missing the Carabao Cup victory over Wolves on Wednesday.

Liverpool also found a way to progress into the quarter-finals of the cup, as they will coincidentally travel back to Villa Park at some point in the near future, with the meeting subject to alteration due to fixture congestion.

Team news

Villa will have to contend without both Keinan Davis and Jota this weekend. Davis was replaced midweek due to a hamstring problem he suffered in the second half.

Wesley will head the Villa attack once more as he looks to get his first goal since scoring a double at Carrow Road last month.

Liverpool remain without Joel Matip who is still weeks away from returning to action. Elsewhere, Naby Keita is a doubt for this one, though Klopp looks likely to revert to a midfield three of Georginio Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho after resting a host of first-team regulars in the win over Arsenal.

Aston Villa predicted XI: Heaton, Guilbert, Engels, Mings, Targett, Nakamba, Douglas Luiz, McGinn, Grealish, El Ghazi, Wesley.

Liverpool predicted XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Henderson, Mane, Firmino, Salah.

Head-to-head

Villa have beaten Liverpool on only four occasions in the past decade, with three of those all too infrequent victories coming at Anfield.

Liverpool claimed a 6-0 win at the hands of a poor Aston Villa side, then relegated in the 2015-2016 Premier League campaign. That was one of the five consecutive wins Liverpool have enjoyed at Villa Park since 2011.

In the words of Smith and Klopp

Dean Smith revealed he is "very, very hopeful" Jack Grealish can return to action this weekend.

He told club TV: “The cup game gave me an opportunity to get some players out there and to rest others. We got a deserved win on the night.

“The turnaround is tight but we were used to that in the Championship last year."

Smith was full of admiration for his opposite number: "we had our toughest test of the season at Manchester City last weekend and Liverpool is going to be another really tough test. It will be right up there again.

“I have so much admiration for Jurgen Klopp and what he has done at Liverpool and Dortmund too. It will be a right test with the players they have got."

Klopp himself told LFCTV: "We play so many games! A lot of yards and miles to run yet. We have created the basis, points wise."

"People say ‘You need a bigger squad’ but the game is not made for a bigger squad of 40 players. You can’t send players on holiday and tell them not to come in until after Christmas."