7 first team players ruled out of Liverpool squad as they prepare to face Aston Villa in Premier League 

Liverpool will be without seven players, mostly due to injury concerns, when they face Aston Villa away in the Premier League on Monday (December 26).

The Reds are looking to put their league form before the FIFA World Cup break behind them and start fresh when the league resumes. They are currently sixth in the table, 15 points behind leaders Arsenal.

Jurgen Klopp's side have won just six of their 14 league matches so far, losing and drawing four each. They will take on an Aston Villa side who are in 12th place in the table, having won five of their 15 matches.

Liverpool, however, are dealing with several injury issues (via Liverpool Echo). James Milner picked up an injury in their 3-2 defeat against Manchester City in the Round of 16 of the Carabao Cup on December 22. Striker Roberto Firmino is also out due to an injury.

Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz have been out of action for a long time now and aren't expected to return soon. Curtis Jones and Arthur Melo could also be absent from their squad against Aston Villa.

Finally, Ibrahima Konate has been rested for today's clash after reaching the FIFA World Cup final with France, who lost against Argentina on penalties.

---

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp on Aston Villa and Unai Emery ahead of their Premier League clash

Aston Villa sacked manager Steven Gerrard in October and brought in Unai Emery as his replacement. The former Arsenal manager has started his Aston Villa tenure on a positive note, winning both their games under him, including a 3-1 win over Manchester United.

Jurgen Klopp also shared his thoughts on Emery and his style of football ahead of Liverpool's trip to Villa Park.The German said:

"Yes, but I think what you can expect is that Unai stands for a specific kind of football and was really successful and did an incredible job at Villarreal, not only there but now recently there. What you saw in the first few games they played and the games we could see in this ‘pre-season’ now, it looks quite similar because it is a good way to play and it’s his way and it’s how he wants to organise a team."

The Liverpool boss added:

"So, yes of course we don’t know exactly what to expect, like you never know exactly what to expect, but at least we have an idea how they will try to cause us problems. So, that’s what we prepare for. Our analysis obviously started already as well so now we have two days’ time to create a plan to cause them problems."

Both sides won their previous two league games before heading into the FIFA World Cup break.