Sotirios Kyrgiakos is expected to start for Liverpool against Aston Villa on Monday night because Jamie Carragher is sidelined after shoulder surgery.Captain Steven Gerrard is believed to be another week away from returning from the hamstring injury he sustained on England duty last month.
Aston Villa are without Ashley Young, who serves a one-match ban for accumulating five bookings this season.
Midfielder Barry Bannan is a doubt with a groin problem.
Liverpool
Doubtful: Gerrard (hamstring)
Injured: Agger (calf), Carragher (shoulder), Spearing (ankle)
Aston Villa
Suspended: A Young (one match)
Doubtful: Bannan (groin), Beye (ankle)
Injured/unavailable: Albrighton (appendicitis), Delph, Heskey, Petrov & Reo-Coker (all knee), Sidwell (Achilles), Weimann (ankle)
MATCH PREVIEW
Monday marks a first competitive return to Anfield for Frenchman Gerard Houllier, who first crossed the channel to teach in Liverpool in 1969 and went on to manage the city's Reds for six years. The former deputy headmaster was forced to learn at the school of hard knocks during his reign, enduring increasing criticism before his departure in 2004.
Gerard Houllier...was the best 'British' manager I've worked with. Illness cruelly deprived him of the sharp judgment that had led to swift early progress, but for three years he was a great Liverpool manager
Jamie Carragher in his autobiography
Houllier won five major trophies at Liverpool, four of them in 2001 when he admits to feeling "indestructible." However, in October of that year his French revolution stalled when he needed emergency heart surgery. He returned a pale shadow of his previous self and now says it took him five years to fully recover.
Since returning to England in September, Houllier has needed to draw on his teaching background to nurture a young Villa side yet to translate potential into results. In the absence of up to a dozen senior players, Villa have only averaged a point a game under Houllier and suffered a Carling Cup knockout by bitter rivals Birmingham last Wednesday.
Despite his own travails, the Frenchman has found time to sympathise with opposite number Roy Hodgson, the latest Liverpool manager to find Anfield an unforgiving environment when the team fail to meet the high standards of the glory days.
Houllier has invited his fellow 63-year-old to share a glass of wine after the game; Hodgson will be hoping for some vintage Reds beforehand.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
• Aston Villa's only win in their last 17 league matches against Liverpool was 3-1 at Anfield last season.
• Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has lost his last two league matches against Villa - both while in charge of Fulham.
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Liverpool
• They are vying for a fourth successive home win in the league.
• The Reds have lost all five league matches this season in which they conceded the opening goal. It is 16 months since they last won after conceding the opening goal - a 3-2 victory at Bolton.
• Liverpool and Villa had dropped more points (12) from winning positions than any other club in the division prior to the weekend.
• Goalkeeper Pepe Reina has kept 99 clean sheets in 197 league matches and is poised to reach the century landmark faster than any other Liverpool goalkeeper. The current record holder is Ray Clemence, who needed 217 league matches to reach 100 clean sheets.
Aston Villa
• They have only won one of their last nine league matches (W1, D4, L4).
• Gerard Houllier's side have the division's worst record against teams in the top half of the table, drawing three games and losing the other five.
• If selected, Jonathan Hogg will be playing on his 22nd birthday.
• Brad Friedel made 31 appearances for Liverpool between 1998 and 2000, while Stephen Warnock made 67 appearances for the club.
LEADING GOALSCORERS
Liverpool
Gerrard: 7 goals (3 league); Ngog: 7 goals (1 league)
Aston Villa
Downing: 5 goals (4 league); A Young: 4 goals (2 league); Heskey: 4 goals (1 league)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Phil Dowd
Assistant referees: Mick McDonough & Glenn Turner
Fourth official: Mark Halsey
LAST LEAGUE MATCH LINE-UPS
Liverpool (L1-2 v Tottenham, a): Reina; Johnson, Carragher (Kyrgiakos 86), Skrtel, Konchesky, Kuyt, Meireles, Lucas, Maxi, Torres, Ngog (Aurelio 74). Subs not used: Jones, Jovanovic, Babel, Poulsen, Shelvey.
Aston Villa (L2-4 v Arsenal, h): Friedel; L Young, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, A Young, Clark, Bannan (Herd 86), Downing, Pires (Delfouneso 46), Carew (Ireland 66). Subs not used: Guzan, Beye, Hogg, Lichaj.
Source: BBC Sport
Source: BBC Sport