Liverpool lineup vs Aston Villa: Minamino in, Mane and Firmino dropped

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Georginio Wijnaldum, Liverpool, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firminho (Photo by Peter Powell – Pool/Getty Images) /

Liverpool intend to get back to winning ways as they face Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

Of course, the last time both sides meet, Dean Smith’s boys handed the Reds one of the most forgetful defeats in the club’s history. And given that this is a cup fixture, there’s every chance of Jurgen Klopp resting a number of his regular starters.

So far Liverpool and Aston Villa have had eight meetings in the FA Cup with the former leading 6-2. However, the last meeting between the two saw Villa run out 2-1 winners in the semifinals of the 2014/15 edition.

It’s really hard to say who is a favorite given Liverpool will probably not field their strongest squad. The Reds have a fairly good chance of qualification to the next round but Aston Villa should certainly not be written off, especially after what happened in September.

Either way, it will be interesting to see who out of the two manages to reach the next phase of the competition. Now, let’s take a look as to the Liverpool lineup we think will take to the field.

Liverpool, Caoimhin Kelleher (Photo by Gaston Szermann/DeFodi Images via Getty Images) /

GK – Caoimhin Kelleher

It’s more or less certain that the Irishman has become Liverpool’s second-choice goalkeeper ahead of Adrian. In the absence of Alisson, Kelleher started in three matches for the Reds, keeping two clean sheets against Ajax and Wolves.

The 22-year-old will be starting in goal ahead of the Brazilian who will receive a much-needed break ahead of the big fixture against Manchester United which is less than ten days away. Kelleher kept a clean sheet in his last FA Cup appearance against Shrewsbury Town but it goes without saying that this will be a much tougher test.

However, he’ll be looking to put in a strong performance and try to keep his third clean sheet of the season. Kelleher has made some pretty good saves for Liverpool this season so far and provided he keeps doing well from the chances he receives, he could well become Ireland’s starting goalkeeper during the World Cup qualifiers.