15th December – Young Reds travel to Villa in Carabao Cup Quarter Final

With every first team squad member on the plane to Qatar, Liverpool will field an entire Under-23 side at Villa Park.

And it’s going to be tough for Klopp’s youth apparent Neil Critchley and his young guns to pick up anything from a senior Premier League side.

Aston Villa haven’t excelled thus far in the top tier, sitting just above the relegation zone after spending close to £150 million in the summer.

Dean Smith’s side lost to the Reds last time out, losing in the dying seconds to Sadio Mane’s guided header. Villa took the lead through Trezeguet, and dominated the match throughout before Andy Robertson’s storming header and then Mane’s flick.

Since then only four points from a possible 18 have been accumulated as they slide ever closer to the bottom three.

But a chance for redemption is on the cards surely as these players earning upwards of £50,000 a week against a bunch of teenagers.

Team news

Well for Liverpool, the whole squad is unavailable!

Injury wise, Fabinho, Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren and Gini Wijnaldum all are out – with the latter two still travelling to Qatar for the Club World Cup.

They are sure to delve into the academy with Curtis Jones, Rhian Brewster and Harvey Elliot the most notable names.

Villa will be without Conor Hourihane, Tyrone Mings and Jed Steer for sure, with Keinan Davis potentially returning on Tuesday.

From the Dugout

Neil Critchley:

“It should be a great opportunity for all of us. It will be a privilege to lead out a Liverpool team at a fantastic stadium against great players.

“I’m really interested to see how our boys do. I’ll be really proud do lead our boys out and I hope they play to their capabilities, because if they do, that’s where I get most satisfaction from.”

Dean Smith:

“It’s a great draw because there is a great history between the two clubs in the competition, and they are the current champions of Europe.

“I am looking forward to the fixture.”