Richard Dunne (shoulder), James Collins and Luke Young (both calf) plus Ciaran Clark, banned for two games for incurring 10 bookings, are all unavailable.
It leaves Houllier with only three first choice defenders in Carlos Cuellar - fit after a hamstring injury - Nathan Baker and on-loan Kyle Walker.
He is declining to name the replacements but Chris Herd and midfielder Fabian Delph, who has deputised before at left-back, are amongst the candidates.
Villa are striving to win back to back home league games for the first time since Houllier took charge.
Source: PA
Source: PA