Liverpool v Aston Villa LIVE: Premier League team news and line-ups as Jones and Diaz start at Anfield

Liverpool XI: Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Jones, Diaz; Nunez.

Subs: Jaros, Endo, Szoboszlai, Gomez, Gakpo, Quansah, Bradley, Morton.

Villa XI: Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; Ramsey, Rogers, Bailey; Watkins.

Subs: Olsen, Bogarde, Maatsen, Mings, Kamara, McGinn, Buendia, Philogene, Duran.

Arne Slot has made the best start by any Premier League manager in history, with 14 wins from 16 competitive games in charge.

Slot is the first Liverpool manager to win as many as eight of his first 10 top-flight fixtures in charge of the club.

Aston Villa have equalled their longest losing streak under Unai Emery of three matches across all competitions. They could suffer consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time in 18 months.

One of the ongoing sagas concerning Liverpool is the contract negotiations with Mo Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk who are all out of contract next summer.

Arne Slot has repeatedly been asked if there are any updates on the discussions and he replied that they concern the players and sporting director Richard Hughes and would remain internal.

Slot said: “It would be strange if I have no input. In general contract situations are talked about by the people who should talk about them. I talk about this with Richard and that’s where it should be, not in front of a microphone.”

This is Liverpool’s 100th home game versus Aston Villa in all competitions. The Reds have won 62 times and lost only 17.

The centre-back inexplicably picked up a short goal-kick by Emiliano Martinez without knowing referee Tobias Stieler had restarted the game.

Brugge captain Hans Vanaken converted the resulting 52nd-minute penalty to earn a 1-0 victory for the Belgian champions and end Villa’s three-game winning start to life in the Champions League.

Aston Villa’s solitary victory in the last 13 Premier League meetings was by 7-2 at Villa Park in October 2020, with Ollie Watkins scoring a hat-trick.

But, Villa have only taken one point from six league visits to Anfield since a 1-0 win in September 2014.

Last time out against Brighton, Liverpool came from behind to win for the 100th time in the Premier League, becoming the third club to reach that milestone.

Liverpool have won more league games (94) and amassed more league points versus Aston Villa (324), converting to three points for a win, than they have against any other club.

The Reds have lost only five of the last 39 league meetings between the sides both home and away.

Arne Slot could hardly have wished for anything more from the first four months or so of his time at Liverpool but the fixtures keep coming fast and thick for the Reds, with Aston Villa next up at the weekend in the Premier League.

That is the final match before the upcoming international break and Slot will be hoping for a fourth straight victory in all competitions, which would make it six wins and one draw across a run of games many saw as being a big test of the team’s title credentials after a perceived easier run at the start of the campaign.

Slot has made sure to tweak his team for games to keep his squad fresh of late, with midweek seeing Liverpool hammer Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League after a couple of such changes, including Luis Diaz playing at centre-forward – where he scored twice from and netted three times on the night in total.