Aston Villa were held to a 10-man draw by Ipswich Town last weekend. And with injuries mounting, Unai Emery faces a selection headache ahead of Wednesday's visit of Liverpool to Villa Park.

Both sides are in the midst of a relentless schedule, with Liverpool's involvement in the Carabao Cup final bringing this game forward by around a month. The busy schedule has taken its toll on Villa's squad, with Emery taking a cautious approach to his Champions League squad, suggesting he may not want to rush his rested players back into action too soon.

Among the casualties, Ollie Watkins has made his way back into contention after recently joining the squad, although fresh concerns have been raised over Ezri Konsa, Amadou Onana and Leon Bailey, who are now embroiled in Villa's growing injury saga.

Boubacar Kamara's introduction after just 16 minutes at Ipswich, filling a defensive void, was a cause for concern, while Ezri Konsa has been out of action since the FA Cup tie against Tottenham.

The Villains are still without Pau Torres and Matty Cash through injury, contributing to their struggle to keep a clean sheet in their last seven games. Torres has been sidelined since January with a serious ankle injury, while Poland international Cash has been ruled out with a muscle problem.

Finally, Ross Barkley remains sidelined with a calf problem with no update from Emery on his fitness, it's likely he won't be available for the Liverpool game either.

As for the Premier League leaders, Arne Slot's side will be looking to move 10 points clear at the top of the table, while Cody Gakpo will miss the game but shouldn't be out for long.

"I think both are not available for tomorrow, Cody is close to being back," Slot said in his pre-match press conference. "Joe [Gomez] will take quite a long time and will be out for numerous weeks because of a hamstring injury."

Elsewhere, Liverpool will be without the services of Tyler Morton. The 22-year-old has undergone successful surgery on a shoulder injury and will be sidelined for a while, although he was unlikely to feature much in the meantime anyway.

After a difficult second half against Wolves, Liverpool will be keen to show that this was a one-off and that their energy has been restored, and while it will be a tough game against Aston Villa, the Reds should have enough firepower to win the game.Villa, which is short of players in the back line, may find it difficult to withstand Liverpool's sharp attack.